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NORTH  AMERICAN 


INDIANS 


Of  this  Edition-de-Luxe ,  upon  hand-made 
paper ,  only  Seventy-five  copies  have  been 


printed. 


‘This  copy  is  Number .... if.. 


0.  CtotUn  U.  S  TATI*'.  S'  INDIAN  FHOJTTIEE.  IN  18  40, 

.Slewing  /hr  tbsiJnmx  »/  /hr  Trtbex  that  have  hern  re/hoved.  west  of  the.  Missisip p  i . 


North  American  Indians 

BEING  LETTERS  AND  NOTES  ON  THEIR 
MANNERS,  CUSTOMS,  AND  CONDITIONS, 
WRITTEN  DURING  EIGHT  YEARS’  TRAVEL 
AMONGST  THE  WILDEST  TRIBES  OF 
INDIANS  IN  NORTH  AMERICA,  1832-1839 

By  GEORGE  CATLIN 


IN  TWO  VOLUMES- VOL.  II. 


WITH  THREE  HUNDRED  AND  TWENTY  ILLUSTRATIONS,  CAREFULLY  ENGRAVED 
FROM  THE  AUTHOR’S  ORIGINAL  PAINTINGS 


PHILADELPHIA 

LEARY,  STUART  AND  COMPANY 


1913 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Letter — No.  32  .  .  .  .  .  .1 

Cantonment  Leavenworth.  Shiennes,  portraits  of.  Floyd’s  Grave. 

Black  Bird’s  Grave.  Beautiful  grassy  bluffs.  Mandan  remains. 

Belle  Vue.  Square  hills.  Mouth  of  Platte.  Buffaloes  crossing. 

Letter — No.  33  .  .  .  .  .  .17 

Grouse  shooting  before  the  burning  prairies.  Prairie  bluffs  burning. 

Prairie  meadows  burning. 

Letter — No.  34  .  .  .  .  .  .25 

Ioways.  Konzas.  Mode  of  shaving  the  head.  Pawnees.  Small-pox 
amongst  Pawnees.  Major  Dougherty’s  opinion  of  the  Fur  Trade. 

Grand  Pawnees.  Ottoes.  Omahas. 

Letter — No.  35  .  .  .  .  .  ,33 

St  Louis.  Loss  of  Indian  curiosities,  etc.  Governor  Clarke. 

Letter — No.  36  .  .  .  .  .  .36 

Pensacola,  Florida.  Perdido.  Pine  woods  of  Florida.  Santa  Rosa 
Island.  Prophecy.  Start  for  Camanchee  country. 

Letter — No.  37  .  .  .  .  .  .41 

Transit  up  the  Arkansas  River.  Fort  Gibson,  1st  regiment  United  States 
Dragoons  reviewed.  Equipping  and  starting  of  Dragoons  for  the 
Camanchee  country. 

Letter — No.  38  .  .  .  .  .  46 

Fort  Gibson.  Osages.  Portraits  of  Osages.  Former  and  present  con¬ 
dition  of.  Start  for  Camanchees  and  Pawnee  Piets. 

Letter — No.  39  .  .  .  .  .  ,51 

Mouth  of  the  False  Washita  and  Red  River.  Beautiful  prairie  country. 
Arkansas  grapes.  Plums.  Wild  Roses,  currants,  gooseberries, 
prickly  pears,  etc.  Buffalo  chase.  Murder  of  Judge  Martin  and 
family. 

a  2 


VI 


PAOB 

Letter — No.  40  .  .  .  •  •  .55 

Sickness  at  the  Mouth  of  False  Washita— one  half  of  the  regiment  start 
for  the  Camanchees,  under  command  of  Colonel  Dodge.  Sickness  of 
General  Leavenworth,  and  cause  of.  Another  buffalo  hunt. 

Letter — No.  41  .  .  .  •  .59 

Great  Camanchee  village,  Texas.  A  stampedo.  Meeting  a  Camanchee 
war  party,  and  mode  of  approaching  them.  They  turn  about  and 
escort  the  Dragoons  to  their  village.  Immense  herds  of  buffaloes. 
Buffaloes  breaking  through  the  ranks  of  the  Dragoon  regiment. 

Wild  horses — sagacity  of — wild  horses  at  play.  Joe  Chadwick  and  I 
“  creasing  ”  a  wild  horse.  Taking  the  wild  horse  with  lasso,  and 
“  breaking  down.”  Chain  of  the  Rocky  Mountain.  Approach  to  the 
Camanchee  village.  Immense  number  of  Camanchee  horses — prices 
of.  Capt.  Duncan’s  purchase. 

Letter — No.  42  .  .  .  .  .  .72 

Description  of  the  Camanchee  village,  and  view  of.  Painting  a  family 
group.  Camanchees  moving.  Wonderful  feats  of  riding.  Portraits 
of  Camanchee  chiefs.  Estimates  of  the  Camanchees.  Pawnee  Piets, 
Kioways,  and  Wicos. 

Letter — No.  43  .  .  .  .  .  .79 

The  regiment  advance  towards  the  Pawnee  village.  Description  and  view 
of  the  Pawnee  village.  Council  in  the  Pawnee  village.  Recovery  of 
the  son  of  Judge  Martin,  and  the  presentation  of  the  three  Pawnee 
and  Kioway  women  to  their  own  people.  Return  of  the  regiment  to 
the  Camanchee  village.  Pawnee  Piets,  portraits  of.  Kioways,  Wicos, 
portraits  of. 

Letter — No.  44  .  .  .  .  .  .86 

Camp  Canadian.  Immense  herds  of  buffaloes.  Great  slaughter  of  them. 
Extraordinary  sickness  of  the  command.  Suffering  from  impure 
water — sickness  of  the  men.  Horned  frogs.  Curious  adventure  in 
catching  them.  Death  of  General  Leavenworth  and  Lieutenant 
M'Clure. 

Letter — No.  45  .  .  .  .  .  .91 

Return  to  Fort  Gibson.  Severe  and  fatal  sickness  at  that  place.  Death 
of  Lieutenant  West.  Death  of  the  Prussian  botanist  and  his  servant. 

Indian  Council  at  Fort  Gibson.  Outfits  of  trading  parties  to  the 
Camanchees.  Probable  consequences  of.  Curious  minerals  and 
fossil  shells  collected  and  thrown  away.  Mountain  ridges  of  fossil 
shells,  of  iron  and  gypsum.  Saltpetre  and  salt. 

Letter — No.  46  .  .  .  .  .  .  100 

Alton  on  the  Mississippi.  Captain  Wharton.  His  sickness  at  Fort  Gibson. 

The  Author  starting  alone  for  St  Louis,  a  distance  of  500  miles  across 


Vll 


PAGE 

the  prairies.  His  outfit.  The  Author  and  his  horse  “  Charley  ” 
encamped  on  a  level  prairie.  Singular  freak,  and  attachment  of  the 
Author’s  horse.  A  beautiful  valley  in  the  prairies.  An  Indian’s 
estimation  of  a  newspaper.  Riqua’s  village  of  Osage.  Meeting 
Captain  Wharton  at  the  Kickapoo  prairie.  Difficulty  of  swimming 
rivers.  Crossing  the  Osage.  Boonville  on  the  Missouri.  Author 
reaches  Alton,  and  starts  for  Florida. 

Letter — No.  47  .  .  .  .  .  .111 

Trip  to  Florida  and  Texas,  and  back  to  St  Louis.  Kickapoos,  portraits  of. 

Weas,  portraits  of.  Potowatomies,  portraits  of.  Kaskasias,  portraits 
of.  Peorias,  portraits  of.  Piankeshaws.  Delawares.  Mohecon- 
neuhs,  or  Mohegans.  Oneidas.  Tuskaroras.  Senecas.  Iroquois. 

Letter — No.  48  .  .  .  .  .  .123 

Flatheads,  Nez  Perces.  Flathead  mission  across  the  Rocky  Mountains 
to  St  Louis.  Mission  of  the  Reverends  Messrs  Lee  and  Spalding 
beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Chinooks,  portraits.  Process  of  flat¬ 
tening  the  head — and  cradle.  Flathead  skulls.  Similar  custom  of 
Choctaws.  Choctaw  tradition.  Curious  manufactures  of  the 
Chinooks.  Klickatacks.  Chuhaylas,  and  Na-as  Indians.  Character 
and  disposition  of  the  Indians  of  the  Columbia. 

Letter — No.  49  ,  .  .  .  .  .  131 

Shawanos.  Shawnee  prophet  and  his  transactions.  Cherokees,  portraits 
of.  Creeks,  portraits  of.  Choctaws,  portraits  of.  Ball-play.  A 
distinguished  ball-player.  Eagle-dance.  Tradition  of  the  Deluge. 

Of  a  future  state.  Origin  of  the  Crawfish  band. 

Letter — No.  50  .  .  .  .  .  .  147 

Fort  Snelling,  near  the  Fall  of  St  Anthony.  Description  of  the  Upper 
Mississippi.  View  on  the  Upper  Mississippi  and  “Dubuque’s  Grave.” 

Fall  of  St  Anthony.  Fort  Snelling.  A  Sioux  cradle,  and  modes  of 
carrying  their  children.  Mourning  cradle,  same  plate.  Sioux 
portraits. 

Letter — No.  51  .  .  .  .  .  .  154 

Fourth  of  July  at  the  Fall  of  St  Anthony,  and  amusements.  Dog-dance 
of  the  Sioux.  Chippeway  village.  Chippeways  making  the  portage 
around  the  Fall  of  St  Anthony.  Chippeway  bark  canoes.  Mandan 
canoes  of  skins.  Sioux  canoes.  Sioux  and  Chippeway  snow-shoes. 
Portraits  of  Chippeways.  Snow-shoe  dance. 

Letter — No.  52  .  .  .  .  .  .100 

The  Author  descending  the  Mississippi  in  a  bark  canoe.  Shot  at  by  Sioux 
Indians.  Lake  Pepin,  and  “Lover’s  Leap.”  Pike’s  Tent,  and  Cap 
auTail.  “Cornice  Rocks.”  Prairie  du  Chien.  Ball-play  of  the 
women.  Winnebagocs,  portraits  of.  Menomonies,  portraits  of. 


Vlll 


PAGE 

Dubuque.  Lockwood’s  cave.  Camp  des  Moines,  and  visit  to 
Keokuk’s  village. 

Letter — No.  53  .  .  .  •  •  •  171 

The  Author  and  his  bark  canoe  sunk  in  the  Des  Moine’s  Rapids.  The 
Author  left  on  Mascotin  Island.  Death  of  Joe  Chadwick.  The 
“West,”  not  the  “ Far  West.”  Author’s  contemplations  on  the 
probable  future  condition  of  the  Great  Valley  of  the  Mississippi. 

Letter — No.  54  .  .  .  .  .  •  182 

Coteau  des  Prairies.  Mackinaw  and  Sault  de  St  Mary’s.  Catching  white 
fish.  Canoe  race.  Chippeways,  portraits  of.  Voyage  up  the  Fox 
River.  Voyage  down  the  Ouisconsin  in  bark  canoe.  Red  Pipe-Stone 
Quarry,  on  the  Coteau  des  Prairies.  Indian  traditions  relative  to  the 
Red  Pipe-Stone.  The  “Leaping  Rock.”  The  Author  and  his  com¬ 
panion  stopped  by  the  Sioux,  on  their  way,  and  objections  raised  by 
the  Sioux.  British  medals  amongst  the  Sioux.  Mons.  La  Fromboise, 
kind  reception.  Encampment  at  the  Pipe-Stone  Quarry.  Ba’tiste’s 
“Story  of  the  Medicine-Bag.”  “Story  of  the  Dog,”  prelude  to. 
Leaving  the  Mandans  in  canoe.  Passing  the  Riccarees  in  the  night. 
Encamping  on  the  side  of  a  clay-bluff,  in  a  thunder-storm. 

Letter — No.  55  .  .  .  .  .  .  213 

“  Story  of  the  Dog  ”  told.  Story  of  Wi-jun-jon  (the  pigeon’s  egg  head). 

Further  account  of  the  Red  Pipe-Stone  Quarry,  and  the  Author’s 
approach  to  it.  Boulders  of  the  Prairies.  Chemical  analysis  of  the 
Red  Pipe-Stone. 

Letter — No.  56  ...  .  235 

Author’s  return  from  the  Coteau  des  Prairies.  “  Laque  du  Cygn.”  Sioux 
taking  Muskrats.  Gathering  wild  rice.  View  on  St  Peter’s  River. 

The  Author  and  his  companion  embark  in  a  long  canoe  at  “  Traverse 
de  Sioux.”  Arrive  at  Fall  of  St  Anthony.  Lake  Pepin.  Prairie  du 
Chien.  Cassville.  Rock  Island.  Sac  and  Fox  Indians,  portraits  of. 
Ke-o-kuk  on  horseback.  Slave-dance.  “  Smoking  horses.”  Begging- 
dance.  Sailing  in  canoes.  Discovery-dance.  Dance  to  the  Berdash. 

Dance  to  the  medicine  of  the  brave.  Treaty  with  Sacs  and  Foxes. 
Stipulations  of. 

Letter — No.  57  ...  247 

Fort  Moultrie.  Seminolees.  Florida  war.  Prisoners  of  war.  Osceola. 

Cloud,  King  Philip.  Co-ee-ha-jo.  Creek  Billy,  Mickenopah.  Death 
of  Osceola. 

Letter — No.  58  .  .  .  .  .  .  252 

North-Western  Frontier.  General  remarks  on.  General  appearance  and 
habits  of  the  North  American  Indians.  Jewish  customs  and  Jewish 
resemblances.  Probable  origin  of  the  Indians.  Languages.  Govern- 


IX 


PAGE 

ment  Cruelties  of  punishments.  Indian  queries  on  white  man’s 
modes.  Modes  of  war  and  peace.  Pipe  of  peace  dance.  Religion. 

Picture  writing,  songs  and  totems.  Policy  of  removing  the  Indians. 

Trade  and  small-pox,  the  principal  destroyers  of  the  Indian  tribes. 

Murder  of  the  Root  Diggers  and  Riccarees.  Concluding  remarks. 


Appendix  A.  ......  293 

Account  of  the  destruction  of  the  Mandans.  Author’s  reasons  for  believing 
them  to  have  perpetuated  the  remains  of  the  Welsh  Colony  established 
by  Prince  Madoc. 

Appendix  B.  ......  299 

Vocabularies  of  several  different  Indian  languages,  showing  their 
dissimilarity. 

Appendix  C.  ......  .  303 

Comparison  of  the  Indians’  original  and  secondary  character. 


LIST  OF  PLATES  IN  VOL.  II. 


Map — “  United  States  Indian  Frontier  in  1840  ”  .  .  facing  title 


PLATES 

PAGE 

PLATES 

PAGE 

78. 

Figs.  115,  116,  .  to  face 

2 

115.  Figs.  197, 19S,  199,  200,  to  face  116 

79. 

Figs.  117,  118, 

6 

116.  Figs.  201,  202,  203,204,  „ 

118 

80. 

Figs.  119,  120, 

8 

117.  Fig.  205,  . 

118 

81. 

Figs.  121,  122, 

12 

US.  Fig.  206,  .  .  ,, 

122 

82. 

Figs.  123,  124,  .  „ 

14 

119.  Figs.  207,  208,  209,  210,  „ 

124 

83. 

Figs.  125,  126,  .  „ 

14 

120.  Fig.  210J,  .  .  „ 

126 

84. 

Figs.  127,  128, 

18 

121.  Figs.  211,212,213,  214,  „ 

132 

85. 

Figs.  129,  130,  131,  132,  „ 

24 

122.  Figs.  215,216,217,  218,  „ 

136 

86. 

Figs.  133,  134,  135,  136,  „ 

26 

123.  Figs.  219,220,  221,222,  „ 

138 

87. 

Figs.  138,  139, 

30 

124.  Fig.  223,  . 

142 

88. 

Figs.  140,  141, 

30 

125.  Fig.  224,  .  .  „ 

142 

89. 

Figs.  14-3,  144,  .  ,, 

30 

126.  Fig.  225,  . 

142 

90. 

Figs.  145,  146,  .  „ 

30 

127.  Fig.  226,  . 

144 

91. 

Figs.  147,  148,  .  „ 

36 

128.  Fig.  227 . 

144 

92. 

Figs.  150,  151, 

46 

129.  Figs.  228,  229, 

148 

93. 

Fig.  152,  . 

48 

130.  Figs.  230,  231, 

148 

94. 

Fig.  153,  . 

48 

131.  Fig.  232,  . 

150 

95. 

Figs.  154,  155,  156  . 

48 

132.  Figs.  233,  234,  .  „ 

152 

96. 

Fig.  157,  . 

62 

133.  Figs.  235,  236, 

152 

97. 

Fig.  158,  .  .  „ 

64 

134.  Fig.  237,  . 

156 

98. 

Fig.  160  . 

64 

135.  Figs.  238,  239,  .  „ 

156 

99. 

Figs.  161,  162 

64 

136.  Fig.  240,  . 

158 

100. 

Fig.  163,  . 

68 

137.  Figs.  241,  242, 

158 

101. 

Fig.  164,  . 

72 

138.  Fig.  243,  .  .  „ 

158 

102. 

Fig.  165,  . 

72 

139.  Figs.  244,  245,  .  „ 

158 

103. 

Fig.  166,  .  .  „ 

72 

140.  Figs.  248,  249,  .  „ 

162 

104. 

Fig.  167,  . 

72 

141.  Figs.  250,  251, 

162 

105. 

Figs.  168,  169,  170,  171,  „ 

74 

142.  Fig.  253,  . 

164 

106. 

Fig.  172,  .  .  „ 

76 

143.  Fig.  252,  .  . 

164 

107. 

Fig.  173,  .  .  „ 

78 

144.  Figs.  254,  255,  .  ,, 

166 

10S. 

Figs.  174, 175, 176,177,  „ 

82 

145.  Figs.  256,  257, 

1C6 

109. 

Figs.  178,179,180,181,  „ 

84 

146.  Figs.  258,  259,  260,  261,  „ 

166 

110. 

Figs.  182,  183, 

S4 

147.  Figs.  262,  263, 

166 

111. 

Fig.  184,  .  .  „ 

102 

148.  Figs.  264,  265,  .  „ 

182 

112. 

Figs.  185,186,  187,188,  „ 

112 

149.  Figs.  266,  267, 

184 

113. 

Figs.  189,  190,  191,  192,  „ 

114 

150.  Figs.  268,  269,  .  „ 

184 

114. 

Figs.  193,  194,195,196,  „ 

114 

151.  Fig.  270,  .  .  „ 

186 

11 


XU 


LIST  OF  PLATES — continued. 


PLATES 

PAGE 

PLATES 

PAGE 

152.  Figs.  271,  272, 

to  face  222 

167. 

Fig.  296,  . 

to  face  242 

153.  Figs.  273,  274,  275, 

99 

230 

168. 

Fig.  297,  .  . 

99 

244 

154.  Figs.  276,  277, 

99 

234 

169. 

Fig.  298, 

99 

248 

155.  Figs.  278,  279, 

99 

236 

170. 

Figs.  299,  300,  301,302 

9  99 

250 

156.  Fig.  280,  . 

99 

238 

171. 

Figs.  303,  304, 

99 

250 

157.  Figs.  281,  282, 

238 

172. 

Fig.  305,  . 

99 

250 

158.  Figs.  283,  284,  285,286,  „ 

240 

173. 

Fig.  306,  . 

99 

278 

159.  Figs.  287,  283, 

99 

240 

174. 

Fig.  307,  . 

99 

278 

160.  Fig.  289,  . 

99 

240 

175. 

Fig.  303,  . 

99 

278 

161.  Fig.  290,  . 

99 

240 

176. 

Fig.  309,  . 

99 

280 

162.  Fig.  291,  . 

99 

240 

177. 

Fig.  310,  . 

99 

280 

163.  Fig.  292,  . 

99 

242 

178. 

Fig.  311,  . 

99 

280 

164.  Fig.  293,  . 

99 

242 

179. 

Fig.  312, 

99 

280 

165.  Fig.  294,  . 

99 

242 

180. 

Map,  ,  3 

99 

292 

166.  Fig.  295,  . 

99 

242 

LETTERS  AND  NOTES 


ON  THE 

NORTH  AMERICAN  INDIANS 

LETTER— No.  32 

FORT  LEAVENWORTH,  LOWER  MISSOURI 

The  readers,  I  presume,  will  have  felt  some  anxiety  for  me  and 
the  fate  of  my  little  craft,  after  the  close  of  my  last  Letter ;  and 
I  have  the  very  great  satisfaction  of  announcing  to  them  that  we 
escaped  snags  and  sawyers,  and  every  other  danger,  and  arrived 
here  safe  from  the  Upper  Missouri,  where  my  last  letters  were 
dated.  We  (that  is,  Ba’tiste,  Bogard  and  I),  are  comfortably  quartered 
for  awhile,  in  the  barracks  of  this  hospitable  Cantonment,  which  is 
now  the  extreme  Western  military  post  on  the  frontier,  and  under 
the  command  of  Colonel  Davenport,  a  gentleman  of  great  urbanity 
of  manners,  with  a  Roman  head  and  a  Grecian  heart,  restrained 
and  tempered  by  the  charms  of  an  American  lady,  who  has  elegantly 
pioneered  the  graces  of  civilised  refinements  into  these  uncivilised 
regions. 

This  Cantonment,  which  is  beautifully  situated  on  the  west  bank 
of  the  Missouri  River,  and  six  hundred  miles  above  its  mouth,  was 
constructed  some  years  since  by  General  Leavenworth,  from  whom 
it  has  taken  its  name.  Its  location  is  very  beautiful,  and  so  is  the 
country  around  it.  It  is  the  concentration  point  of  a  number  of 
hostile  tribes  in  the  vicinity,  and  has  its  influence  in  restraining 
their  warlike  propensities. 

There  is  generally  a  regiment  of  men  stationed  here,  for  the 
purpose  of  holding  the  Indians  in  check,  and  of  preserving  the  peace 
amongst  the  hostile  tribes.  I  shall  visit  several  tribes  in  this 
vicinity,  and  most  assuredly  give  you  some  further  account  of  them, 
as  fast  as  I  get  it. 

Since  the  date  of  my  last  epistles,  I  succeeded  in  descending  the 
river  to  this  place,  in  my  little  canoe,  with  my  two  men  at  the  oars, 
VOL.  II.  A 


2 


and  myself  at  the  helm,  steering  its  course  the  whole  way  amongst 
snags  and  sand-bars. 

Before  I  give  further  account  of  this  downward  voyage,  however, 
I  must  recur  back  for  a  few  moments,  to  the  Teton  Paver,  from 
whence  I  started,  and  from  whence  my  last  epistles  were  written, 
to  record  a  few  more  incidents  which  I  then  overlooked  in  my 
note-book.  Whilst  painting  my  portraits  amongst  the  Sioux,  as  I 
have  described,  I  got  the  portrait  of  a  noble  Shienne  chief,  by  the 
name  of  Nee-hee-o-ee-woo-tis  (the  wolf  on  the  hill,  Fig.  115).  The 
chief  of  a  party  of  that  tribe,  on  a  friendly  visit  to  the  Sioux,  and 
the  portrait  also  of  a  woman,  Tis-see-woo-na-tis  (she  who  bathes  her 
knees,  Fig.  116).  The  Shiennes  are  a  small  tribe  of  about  3000  in 
numbers,  living  neighbours  to  the  Sioux,  on  the  west  of  them,  and 
between  the  Black  Hills  and  the  Eocky  Mountains.  There  is  no 
finer  race  of  men  than  these  in  North  America,  and  none  superior 
in  stature,  excepting  the  Osages ;  scarcely  a  man  in  the  tribe,  full 
grown,  who  is  less  than  six  feet  in  height.  The  Shiennes  are 
undoubtedly  the  richest  in  horses  of  any  tribe  on  the  Continent, 
living  in  a  country  as  they  do,  where  the  greatest  numbers  of  wild 
horses  are  grazing  on  the  prairies,  which  they  catch  in  great  numbers 
and  vend  to  the  Sioux,  Mandans  and  other  tribes,  as  well  as  to  the 
Fur  Traders. 

These  people  are  the  most  desperate  set  of  horsemen,  and  warriors 
also,  having  carried  on  almost  unceasing  wars  with  the  Pawnees  and 
Blackfeet,  “  time  out  of  mind.”  The  chief  represented  in  the  picture 
was  clothed  in  a  handsome  dress  of  deer  skins,  very  neatly  garnished 
with  broad  bands  of  porcupine  quill  work  down  the  sleeves  of  his 
shirt  and  his  leggings,  and  all  the  way  fringed  with  scalp-locks. 
His  hair  was  very  profuse,  and  flowing  over  his  shoulders ;  and  in 
his  hand  he  held  a  beautiful  Sioux  pipe,  which  had  just  been  pre¬ 
sented  to  him  by  Mr  M'Kenzie,  the  Trader.  This  was  one  of  the 
finest  looking  and  most  dignified  men  that  I  have  met  in  the  Indian 
country ;  and  from  the  account  given  of  him  by  the  Traders,  a  man 
of  honour  and  strictest  integrity.  The  woman  was  comely,  and 
beautifully  dressed ;  her  dress  of  the  mountain-sheep  skins,  tastefully 
ornamented  with  quills  and  beads,  and  her  hair  plaited  in  large 
braids,  that  hung  down  on  her  breast. 

After  I  had  painted  these  and  many  more,  whom  I  have  not 
time  at  present  to  name,  I  painted  the  portrait  of  a  celebrated 
warrior  of  the  Sioux,  by  the  name  of  Mah-to-ehee-ga  (the  little 
bear),  who  was  unfortunately  slain  in  a  few  moments  after  the 
picture  was  done,  by  one  of  his  own  tribe ;  and  which  was  very 


t 


I 


3 


near  costing  me  my  life  for  having  painted  a  side  view  of  his  face, 
leaving  one-half  of  it  out  of  the  picture,  which  had  been  the  cause 
of  the  affray ;  and  supposed  by  the  whole  tribe  to  have  been  inten¬ 
tionally  left  out  by  me,  as  “  good  for  nothing.”  This  was  the  last 
picture  that  I  painted  amongst  the  Sioux,  and  the  last,  undoubtedly, 
that  I  ever  shall  paint  in  that  place.  So  tremendous  and  so  alarm¬ 
ing  was  the  excitement  about  it,  that  my  brushes  were  instantly 
put  away,  and  I  embarked  the  next  day  on  the  steamer  for  the 
sources  of  the  Missouri,  and  was  glad  to  get  underweigh. 

The  man  who  slew  this  noble  warrior  was  a  troublesome  fellow  of 
the  same  tribe,  by  the  name  of  Shon-ka  (the  dog).  A  “  hue  and  cry  ” 
has  been  on  his  track  for  several  months ;  and  my  life  having  been 
repeatedly  threatened  during  my  absence  up  the  river,  I  shall  defer  tell¬ 
ing  the  whole  of  this  most  extraordinary  affair,  until  I  see  that  my  own 
scalp  is  safe,  and  I  am  successfully  out  of  the  country.  A  few  weeks 
or  months  will  decide  how  many  are  to  fall  victims  to  the  vengeance 
of  the  relatives  of  this  murdered  brave;  and  if  I  outlive  the  affair,  I 
shall  certainly  give  some  further  account  of  it.* 

My  voyage  from  the  mouth  of  the  Teton  Eiver  to  this  place  has 
been  the  most  rugged,  yet  the  most  delightful,  of  my  whole  Tour. 
Our  canoe  was  generally  landed  at  night  on  the  point  of  some  pro¬ 
jecting  barren  sand-bar,  where  we  straightened  our  limbs  on  our 
buffalo  robes,  secure  from  the  annoyance  of  mosquitos,  and  out  of  the 
walks  of  Indians  and  grizzly  bears.  In  addition  to  the  opportunity 
which  this  descending  Tour  has  afforded  me,  of  visiting  all  the  tribes 
of  Indians  on  the  river,  and  leisurely  filling  my  portfolio  with  the 
beautiful  scenery  which  its  shores  present — the  sportsman’s  fever  was 
roused  and  satisfied ;  the  swan,  ducks,  geese,  and  pelicans — the  deer, 
antelope,  elk,  and  buffaloes,  were  “ stretched ”  by  our  rifles;  and  some 
times — “  pull  boys  !  pull ! !  a  war  party !  for  your  lives  pull !  or  we 
are  gone !  ” 

I  often  landed  my  skiff,  and  mounted  the  green  carpeted  bluffs, 
whose  soft  grassy  tops  invited  me  to  recline,  where  I  was  at  once 
lost  in  contemplation.  Soul  melting  scenery  that  was  about  me  !  A 
place  where  the  mind  could  think  volumes ;  but  the  tongue  must  be 
silent  that  would  speak,  and  the  hand  palsied  that  would  write.  A 
place  where  a  Divine  would  confess  that  he  never  had  fancied  Paradise 
— where  the  painter’s  palette  would  lose  its  beautiful  tints — the 
blood-stirring  notes  of  eloquence  would  die  in  their  utterance — and 

*  Some  months  after  writing  the  above,  and  after  I  had  arrived  safe  in  St  Louis, 
the  news  reached  there  that  the  Dog  had  been  overtaken  and  killed,  and  a  brother  of 
his  also,  and  the  affair  thus  settled.  The  portraits  are  in  Vol.  II.  (Figs.  273,  274, 
and  275),  and  the  story  there  told. 


4 


even  the  soft  tones  of  sweet  music  would  scarcely  preserve  a  spark  to 
light  the  soul  again  that  had  passed  this  sweet  delirium.  I  mean  the 
prairie,  whose  enamelled  plains  that  lie  beneath  me,  in  distance 
soften  into  sweetness,  like  an  essence;  whose  thousand  thousand  velvet- 
covered  hills  (surely  never  formed  by  chance,  but  grouped  in  one  of 
Nature’s  sportive  moods) — tossing  and  leaping  down  with  steep  or 
graceful  declivities  to  the  river’s  edge,  as  if  to  grace  its  pictured 
shores,  and  make  it  “  a  thing  to  look  upon.”  I  mean  the  prairie  at 
sun-set;  when  the  green  hill-tops  are  turned  into  gold — and  their 
long  shadows  of  melancholy  are  thrown  over  the  valleys — when  all 
the  breathings  of  day  are  hushed,  and  nought  but  the  soft  notes  of 
the  retiring  dove  can  be  heard ;  or  the  still  softer  and  more  plaintive 
notes  of  the  wolf,  who  sneaks  through  these  scenes  of  enchantment, 

and  mournfully  how — 1 - s  as  if  lonesome,  and  lost  in  the  too 

beautiful  quiet  and  stillness  about  him.  I  mean  this  prairie ;  where 
Heaven  sheds  its  purest  light,  and  lends  its  richest  tints — this  round 
topp'd  bluff,  where  the  foot  treads  soft  and  light — whose  steep  sides, 
and  lofty  head,  rear  me  to  the  skies,  overlooking  yonder  pictured  vale 
of  beauty — this  solitary  cedar-post,  which  tells  a  tale  of  grief — grief 
that  was  keenly  felt,  and  tenderly,  but  long  since  softened  in  the 
march  of  time  and  lost.  Oh,  sad  and  tear-starting  contemplation ! 
sole  tenant  of  this  stately  mound,  how  solitary  thy  habitation ;  here 
Heaven  wrested  from  thee  thy  ambition,  and  made  thee  sleeping 
monarch  of  this  land  of  silence. 

Stranger !  oh,  how  the  mystic  web  of  sympathy  links  my  soul  to 
thee  and  thy  afflictions !  I  knew  thee  not,  but  it  was  enough ;  thy 
tale  was  told,  and  I  a  solitary  wanderer  through  thy  land,  have 
stopped  to  drop  familiar  tears  upon  thy  grave.  Pardon  this  gush 
from  a  stranger’s  eyes,  for  they  are  all  that  thou  canst  have  in  this 
strange  land,  where  friends  and  dear  relations  are  not  allowed  to 
pluck  a  flower,  and  drop  a  tear  to  freshen  recollections  of  endearments 
past. 

Stranger !  adieu.  With  streaming  eyes  I  leave  thee  again,  and  thy 
fairy  land,  to  peaceful  solitude.  My  pencil  has  faithfully  traced  thy 
beautiful  habitation ;  and  long  shall  live  in  the  world,  and  familiar, 
the  name  of  “  Floyd's  Grave." 

Eeaders,  pardon  this  digression.  I  have  seated  myself  down,  not 
on  a  prairie,  but  at  my  table,  by  a  warm  and  cheering  fire,  with  my 
journal  before  me  to  cull  from  it  a  few  pages,  for  your  entertainment; 
and  if  there  are  spots  of  loveliness  and  beauty,  over  which  I  have 
passed,  and  whose  images  are  occasionally  beckoning  me  into  digres¬ 
sions,  you  must  forgive  me. 


5 


Such  is  the  spot  I  have  just  named,  and  some  others,  on  to  which 
I  am  instantly  transferred  when  I  cast  my  eyes  back  upon  the 
enamelled  and  beautiful  shores  of  the  Upper  Missouri ;  and  I  am  con¬ 
strained  to  step  aside  and  give  ear  to  their  breathings,  when  their  soft 
images,  and  cherished  associations,  so  earnestly  prompt  me.  “  Floyd’s 
Grave  ”  is  a  name  given  to  one  of  the  most  lovely  and  imposing  mounds 
or  bluffs  on  the  Missouri  Eiver,  about  twelve  hundred  miles  above  St 
Louis,  from  the  melancholy  fate  of  Sergeant  Floyd,  who  was  of  Lewis 
and  Clarke’s  expedition,  in  1806  ;  who  died  on  the  way,  and  whose 
body  was  taken  to  this  beautiful  hill,  and  buried  in  its  top,  where  now 
stands  a  cedar  post,  bearing  the  initials  of  his  name  (Fig.  118). 

I  landed  my  canoe  in  front  of  this  grass-covered  mound,  and  all 
hands  being  fatigued,  we  encamped  a  couple  of  days  at  its  base.  I 
several  times  ascended  it  and  sat  upon  his  grave,  overgrown  with  grass 
and  the  most  delicate  wild  flowers,  where  I  sat  and  contemplated  the 
solitude  and  stillness  of  this  tenanted  mound ;  and  beheld  from  its 
top,  the  windings  infinite  of  the  Missouri,  and  its  thousand  hills  and 
domes  of  green,  vanishing  into  blue  in  distance,  when  nought  but  the 
soft-breathing  winds  were  heard,  to  break  the  stillness  and  quietude 
of  the  scene.  Where  not  the  chirping  of  bird  or  sound  of  cricket, 
nor  soaring  eagle’s  scream,  were  interposed  ’tween  God  and  man ;  nor 
aught  to  check  man’s  whole  surrender  of  his  soul  to  his  Creator.  I 
could  not  hunt  upon  this  ground,  but  I  roamed  from  liill-top  to  hill¬ 
top,  and  culled  wild  flowers,  and  looked  into  the  valley  below  me, 
both  up  the  river  and  down,  and  contemplated  the  thousand  hills  and 
dales  that  are  now  carpeted  with  green,  streaked  as  they  will  be,  with 
the  plough,  and  yellow  with  the  harvest  sheaf ;  spotted  with  lowing 
kine — with  houses  and  fences,  and  groups  of  hamlets  and  villas — and 
these  lovely  hill-tops  ringing  with  the  giddy  din  and  maze,  or  secret 
earnest  whispers  of  lovesick  swains — of  pristine  simplicity  and  virtue 
— wholesome  and  well-earned  contentment  and  abundance — and  again, 
of  wealth  and  refinements — of  idleness  and  luxury — of  vice  and  its 
deformities — of  fire  and  sword,  and  the  vengeance  of  offended  Heaven, 
wreaked  in  retributive  destruction ! — and  peace,  and  quiet,  and  love¬ 
liness,  and  silence,  dwelling  again,  over  and  through  these  scenes, 
and  blending  them  into  futurity  ! 

Many  such  scenes  there  are,  and  thousands,  on  the  Missouri 
shores.  My  canoe  has  been  stopped,  and  I  have  clambered  up  their 
grassy  and  flower-decked  sides ;  and  sighed  all  alone,  as  I  have  care¬ 
fully  traced  and  fastened  them  in  colours  on  my  canvas. 

This  voyage  in  my  little  canoe,  amid  the  thousand  islands  and 
grass-covered  bluffs  that  stud  the  shores  of  this  mighty  river,  afforded 


6 


me  infinite  pleasure,  mingled  with  pains  and  privations  which  I 
never  shall  wish  to  forget.  Gliding  along  from  day  to  day,  and 
tiring  our  eyes  on  the  varying  landscapes  that  were  continually 
opening  to  our  view,  my  merry  voyayeurs  were  continually  chanting 
their  cheerful  boat  songs,  and  “  every  now  and  then,”  taking  up  their 
unerring  rifles  to  bring  down  the  stately  elks  or  antelopes,  which  were 
often  gazing  at  us  from  the  shores  of  the  river. 

But  a  few  miles  from  “Floyd’s  Bluff”  we  landed  our  canoe,  and 
spent  a  day  in  the  vicinity  of  the  “  Black  Bird’s  Grave.”  This  is  a 
celebrated  point  on  the  Missouri,  and  a  sort  of  telegraphic  place, 
which  all  the  travellers  in  these  realms,  both  white  and  red,  are  in 
the  habit  of  visiting :  the  one  to  pay  respect  to  the  bones  of  one  of 
their  distinguished  leaders ;  and  the  others,  to  indulge  their  eyes  on 
the  lovely  landscape  that  spreads  out  to  an  almost  illimitable  extent 
in  every  direction  about  it.  This  elevated  bluff,  which  may  be  dis¬ 
tinguished  for  several  leagues  in  distance  (Fig.  117),  has  received  the 
name  of  the  “  Black  Bird’s  Grave,”  from  the  fact,  that  a  famous  chief 
of  the  O-ma-haws,  by  the  name  of  the  Black  Bird,  was  buried  on  its 
top,  at  his  own  peculiar  request ;  over  whose  grave  a  cedar  post  was 
erected  by  his  tribe  some  thirty  years  ago,  which  is  still  standing. 
The  O-ma-haw  village  was  about  sixty  miles  above  this  place;  and 
this  very  noted  chief,  who  had  been  on  a  visit  to  Washington  City, 
in  company  with  the  Indian  agent,  died  of  the  small-pox,  near  this 
spot,  on  his  return  home.  And,  whilst  dying,  enjoined  on  his 
warriors  who  were  about  him,  this  singular  request,  which  was 
literally  complied  with.  He  requested  them  to  take  his  body  down 
the  river  to  this  his  favourite  haunt,  and  on  the  pinnacle  of  this 
towering  bluff,  to  bury  him  on  the  back  of  his  favourite  war-horse, 
which  was  to  be  buried  alive,  under  him,  from  whence  he  could  see, 
as  he  said,  “  the  Frenchmen  passing  up  and  down  the  river  in  their 
boats.”  He  owned,  amongst  many  horses,  a  noble  white  steed  that 
was  led  to  the  top  of  the  grass-covered  hill ;  and,  with  great  pomp 
and  ceremony,  in  presence  of  the  whole  nation,  and  several  of  the 
Fur  Traders  and  the  Indian  agent,  he  was  placed  astride  of  his 
horse’s  back,  with  his  bow  in  his  hand,  and  his  shield  and  quiver 
slung — with  his  pipe  and  his  mcdicinc-bag — with  his  supply  of  dried 
meat,  and  his  tobacco-pouch  replenished  to  last  him  through  his 
journey  to  the  “beautiful  hunting  grounds  of  the  shades  of  his 
fathers  ” — with  his  flint  and  steel,  and  his  tinder,  to  light  his  pipes 
by  the  way.  The  scalps  that  he  had  taken  from  his  enemies’  heads, 
could  be  trophies  for  nobody  else,  and  were  hung  to  the  bridle  of  his 
horse — he  was  in  full  dress  and  fully  equipped ;  and  on  his  head. 


79 


117 


7 


waved,  to  the  last  moment,  his  beautiful  head-dress  of  the  war-eagle’s 
plumes.  In  this  plight,  and  the  last  funeral  honours  having  been 
performed  by  the  medicine-men,  every  warrior  of  his  band  painted 
the  palm  and  fingers  of  his  right  hand  with  vermilion ;  which  was 
stamped,  and  perfectly  impressed  on  the  milk-white  sides  of  his 
devoted  horse. 

This  all  done,  turfs  were  brought  and  placed  around  the  feet  and 
legs  of  the  horse,  and  gradually  laid  up  to  its  sides ;  and  at  last, 
over  the  back  and  head  of  the  unsuspecting  animal,  and  last  of  all, 
over  the  head  and  even  the  eagle  plumes  of  its  valiant  rider,  where 
altogether  have  smouldered  and  remained  undisturbed  to  the  present 
day. 

This  mound  which  is  covered  with  a  green  turf,  and  spotted  with 
wild  flowers,  with  its  cedar  post  in  its  centre,  can  easily  be  seen  at 
the  distance  of  fifteen  miles,  by  the  voyacjcur,  and  forms  for  him  a 
familiar  and  useful  land-mark. 

Whilst  visiting  this  mound  in  company  with  Major  Sanford,  on 
our  way  up  the  river,  I  discovered  in  a  hole  made  in  the  mound,  by 
a  “  ground  hog  ”  or  other  animal,  the  skull  of  the  horse ;  and  by  a 
little  pains,  also  came  at  the  skull  of  the  chief,  which  I  carried  to 
the  river  side,  and  secreted  till  my  return  in  my  canoe,  when  I  took 
it  in,  and  brought  with  me  to  this  place,  where  I  now  have  it,  with 
others  which  I  have  collected  on  my  route. 

There  have  been  some  very  surprising  tales  told  of  this  man, 
which  will  render  him  famous  in  history,  whether  they  be  truth  or 
matters  of  fiction.  Of  the  many,  one  of  the  most  current  is,  that  he 
gained  his  celebrity  and  authority  by  the  most  diabolical  series  of 
murders  in  his  own  tribe ;  by  administering  arsenic  (with  which  he 
had  been  supplied  by  the  Fur  Traders)  to  such  of  his  enemies  as  he 
wished  to  get  rid  of — and  even  to  others  in  his  tribe  whom  he  was 
willing  to  sacrifice,  merely  to  establish  his  superhuman  powers,  and 
the  most  servile  dread  of  the  tribe,  from  the  certainty  with  which 
his  victims  fell  around  him,  precisely  at  the  times  he  saw  fit  to 
predict  their  death!  It  has  been  said  that  he  administered  this 
potent  drug,  and  to  them  unknown  medicine,  to  many  of  his  friends 
as  well  as  to  foes;  and  by  such  an  inhuman  and  unparalleled 
depravity,  succeeded  in  exercising  the  most  despotic  and  absolute 
authority  in  his  tribe,  until  the  time  of  his  death ! 

This  story  may  be  true,  and  it  may  not.  I  cannot  contradict 
it;  and  I  am  sure  the  world  will  forgive  me,  if  I  say,  I  cannot 
believe  it.  If  it  be  true,  two  things  are  also  true ;  the  one,  not  much 
to  the  credit  of  the  Indian  character ;  and  the  other,  to  the  ever- 


8 


lasting  infamy  of  the  Fur  Traders.  If  it  be  true,  it  furnishes  an 
instance  of  Indian  depravity  that  I  never  have  elsewhere  heard  of 
in  my  travels ;  and  carries  the  most  conclusive  proof  of  the  incredible 
enormity  of  white  men’s  dealings  in  this  country;  who,  for  some 
sinister  purpose  must  have  introduced  the  poisonous  drug  into  the 
country,  and  taught  the  poor  chief  how  to  use  it ;  whilst  they  were 
silent  accessories  to  the  murders  he  was  committing.  This  story  is 
said  to  have  been  told  by  the  Fur  Traders;  and  although  I  have 
not  always  the  highest  confidence  in  their  justice  to  the  Indian, 
yet,  I  cannot  for  the  honour  of  my  own  species,  believe  them  to 
be  so  depraved  and  so  wicked,  nor  so  weak,  as  to  reveal  such 
iniquities  of  this  chief,  if  they  were  true,  which  must  directly 
implicate  themselves  as  accessories  to  his  most  wilful  and  unpro¬ 
voked  murders. 

Such  he  has  been  heralded,  however,  to  future  ages,  as  a 
murderer — like  hundreds  and  thousands  of  others,  as  “  horse  thieves,” 
as  “drunkards” — as  “rogues  of  the  first  order,”  etc.,  etc. — by  the 
historian  who  catches  but  a  glaring  story  (and  perhaps  fabrication) 
of  their  lives,  and  has  no  time  nor  disposition  to  inquire  into  and 
record  their  long  and  brilliant  list  of  virtues,  which  must  be  lost 
in  the  shade  of  infamy,  for  want  of  an  historian. 

I  have  learned  much  of  this  noble  chieftain,  and  at  a  proper 
time  shall  recount  the  modes  of  his  civil  and  military  life — how  he 
exposed  his  life,  and  shed  his  blood  in  rescuing  the  victims  to  horrid 
torture,  and  abolished  that  savage  custom  in  his  tribe — how  he  led 
on  and  headed  his  brave  warriors,  against  the  Sacs  and  Foxes; 
and  saved  the  butchery  of  his  women  and  children — how  he  received 
the  Indian  agent,  and  entertained  him  in  his  hospitable  wigwam 
in  his  village — and  how  he  conducted  and  acquitted  himself  on  his 
embassy  to  the  civilised  world. 

So  much  I  will  take  pains  to  say,  of  a  man  whom  I  never  saw, 
because  other  historians  have  taken  equal  pains  just  to  mention 
his  name,  and  a  solitary  (and  doubtful)  act  of  his  life,  as  they  have 
said  of  hundreds  of  others,  for  the  purpose  of  consigning  him  to 
infamy. 

How  much  more  kind  would  it  have  been  for  the  historian,  who 
never  saw  him,  to  have  enumerated  with  this,  other  characteristic 
actions  of  his  life  (for  the  verdict  of  the  world) ;  or  to  have  allowed, 
in  charity,  his  bones  and  his  name  to  have  slept  in  silence,  instead 
of  calling  them  up  from  the  grave,  to  thrust  a  dagger  through  them, 
and  throw  them  back  again. 

Book-making  now-a-days,  is  done  for  money-making;  and  he 


9 


who  takes  the  Indian  for  his  theme,  and  cannot  go  and  see 
him,  finds  a  poverty  in  his  matter  that  naturally  begets  error,  by 
grasping  at  every  little  tale  that  is  brought  or  fabricated  by  their 
enemies.  Such  books  are  standards,  because  they  are  made  for 
white  man’s  reading  only ;  and  herald  the  character  of  a  people  who 
never  can  disprove  them.  They  answer  the  purpose  for  which 
they  are  written ;  and  the  poor  Indian  who  has  no  redress,  stands 
stigmatised  and  branded,  as  a  murderous  wretch  and  beast. 

If  the  system  of  book-making  and  newspaper  printing  were 
in  operation  in  the  Indian  country  awhile,  to  herald  the  iniquities 
and  horrible  barbarities  of  white  men  in  these  Western  regions, 
which  now  are  sure  to  be  overlooked  ;  I  venture  to  say,  that  chapters 
would  soon  be  printed,  which  would  sicken  the  reader  to  his  heart, 
and  set  up  the  Indian,  a  fair  and  tolerable  man. 

There  is  no  more  beautiful  prairie  country  in  the  world,  than 
that  which  is  to  be  seen  in  this  vicinity.  In  looking  back  from 
this  bluff,  towards  the  West,  there  is,  to  an  almost  boundless  extent, 
one  of  the  most  beautiful  scenes  imaginable.  The  surface  of  the 
country  is  gracefully  and  slightly  undulating,  like  the  swells  of  the 
retiring  ocean  after  a  heavy  storm.  And  everywhere  covered  with 
a  beautiful  green  turf,  and  with  occasional  patches  and  clusters  of 
trees.  The  soil  in  this  region  is  also  rich,  and  capable  of  making 
one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  productive  countries  in  the  world. 

Ba’tiste  and  Bogard  used  their  rifles  to  some  effect  during  the 
day  that  we  loitered  here,  and  gathered  great  quantities  of  delicious 
grapes.  From  this  lovely  spot  we  embarked  the  next  morning,  and 
glided  through  constantly  changing  scenes  of  beauty,  until  we 
landed  our  canoe  at  the  base  of  a  beautiful  series  of  grass-covered 
bluffs,  which,  like  thousands  and  thousands  of  others  on  the  banks 
of  this  river,  are  designated  by  no  name,  that  I  know  of;  and  I 
therefore  introduce  them  as  fair  specimens  of  the  grassy  bluffs  of  the 
Missouri. 

Ally  canoe  was  landed  at  noon,  at  the  base  of  these  picturesque 
hills — and  there  rested  till  the  next  morning.  As  soon  as  we  were 
ashore,  I  scrambled  to  their  summits,  and  beheld,  even  to  a  line, 
what  the  reader  has  before  him  in  Figs.  119  and  120.  I  took  my 
easel,  and  canvas  and  brushes,  to  the  top  of  the  bluff,  and  painted 
the  two  views  from  the  same  spot;  the  one  looking  up,  and  the 
other  down  the  river.  The  reader,  by  imagining  these  hills  to  be 
five  or  six  hundred  feet  high,  and  every  foot  of  them,  as  far  as  they 
can  be  discovered  in  distance,  covered  with  a  vivid  green  turf, 
whilst  the  sun  is  gilding  one  side,  and  throwing  a  cool  shadow  on 

A* 


10 


the  other,  will  be  enabled  to  form  something  like  an  adequate  idea 
of  the  shores  of  the  Missouri.  From  this  enchanting  spot  there 
was  nothing  to  arrest  the  eye  from  ranging  over  its  waters  for  the 
distance  of  twenty  or  thirty  miles,  where  it  quietly  glides  between 
its  barriers,  formed  of  thousands  of  green  and  gracefully  sloping 
hills,  with  its  rich  and  alluvial  meadows,  and  woodlands — and  its 
hundred  islands,  covered  with  stately  cotton-wood. 

In  these  two  views,  the  reader  has  a  fair  account  of  the  general 
character  of  the  Upper  Missouri ;  and  by  turning  back  to  Fig.  39, 
Yol.  I.,  which  I  have  already  described,  he  will  at  once  see  the  pro¬ 
cess  by  which  this  wonderful  formation  has  been  produced.  In  that 
Fig.  will  be  seen  the  manner  in  which  the  rains  are  wearing  down 
the  clay-bluffs,  cutting  gullies  or  sluices  behind  them,  and  leaving 
them  at  last  to  stand  out  in  relief,  in  these  rounded  and  graceful 
forms,  until  in  time  they  get  seeded  over,  and  nourish  a  growth  of 
green  grass  on  their  sides,  which  forms  a  turf,  and  protects  their 
surface,  preserving  them  for  centuries,  in  the  forms  that  are  here 
seen.  The  tops  of  the  highest  of  these  bluffs  rise  nearly  up  to  the 
summit  level  of  the  prairies,  which  is  found  as  soon  as  one  travels  a 
mile  or  so  from  the  river,  amongst  these  picturesque  groups,  and  comes 
out  at  their  top ;  from  whence  the  country  goes  off  to  the  East  and 
the  West,  with  an  almost  perfectly  level  surface. 

These  two  views  were  taken  about  thirty  miles  above  the  village 
of  the  Puncahs,  and  five  miles  above  “the  Tower;”  the  name  given 
by  the  travellers  through  the  country,  to  a  high  and  remarkable  clay 
bluff,  rising  to  the  height  of  some  hundreds  of  feet  from  the  water,  and 
having  in  distance,  the  castellated  appearance  of  a  fortification. 

My  canoe  was  not  unmoored  from  the  shores  of  this  lovely  spot 
for  two  days,  except  for  the  purpose  of  crossing  the  river ;  which  I 
several  times  did,  to  ascend  and  examine  the  hills  on  the  opposite 
side.  I  had  Ba’tiste  and  Bogard  with  me  on  the  tops  of  these  green 
carpeted  bluffs,  and  tried  in  vain  to  make  them  see  the  beauty  of 
scenes  that  were  about  us.  They  dropped  asleep,  and  I  strolled  and 
contemplated  alone ;  clambering  “  up  one  hill  ”  and  sliding  or  running 
“ down  another’’  with  no  other  living  being  in  sight,  save  now 
and  then  a  bristling  wolf,  which,  from  my  approach,  was  reluctantly 
retreating  from  his  shady  lair — or  sneaking  behind  me  and  smelling 
on  my  track. 

Whilst  strolling  about  on  the  western  bank  of  the  river  at  this 
place,  I  found  the  ancient  site  of  an  Indian  village,  which,  from  the 
character  of  the  marks,  I  am  sure  was  once  the  residence  of  the 
Mandans.  I  said  in  a  former  Letter,  when  speaking  of  the  Mandans, 


11 


that  within  the  recollection  of  some  of  their  oldest  men,  they  lived 
some  sixty  or  eighty  miles  down  the  river  from  the  place  of  their 
present  residence ;  and  that  they  then  lived  in  nine  villages.  On 
my  way  down,  I  became  fully  convinced  of  the  fact ;  having  landed 
my  canoe,  and  examined  the  ground  where  the  foundation  of  every 
wigwam  can  yet  be  distinctly  seen.  At  that  time,  they  must  have 
been  much  more  numerous  than  at  present,  from  the  many  marks- 
they  have  left,  as  well  as  from  their  own  representations. 

The  Mandans  have  a  peculiar  way  of  building  their  wigwams,  by 
digging  down  a  couple  of  feet  in  the  earth,  and  there  fixing  the  ends 
of  the  poles  which  form  the  walls  of  their  houses.  There  are  other 
marks,  such  as  their  caches — and  also  their  mode  of  depositing  their 
dead  on  scaffolds — and  of  preserving  the  skulls  in  circles  on  the 
prairies ;  which  peculiar  customs  I  have  before  described,  and  most 
of  which  are  distinctly  to  be  recognised  in  each  of  these  places,  as 
well  as  in  several  similar  remains  which  I  have  met  with  on  the 
banks  of  the  river,  between  here  and  the  Mandans ;  which  fully  con¬ 
vince  me,  that  they  have  formerly  occupied  the  lower  parts  of  the 
Missouri,  and  have  gradually  made  their  way  quite  through  the  heart 
of  the  great  Sioux  country ;  and  having  been  well  fortified  in  all  their 
locations,  as  in  their  present  one,  by  a  regular  stockade  and  ditch ; 
they  have  been  able  successfully  to  resist  the  continual  assaults  of 
the  Sioux,  that  numerous  tribe,  who  have  been,  and  still  are,  en¬ 
deavouring  to  effect  their  entire  destruction.  I  have  examined,  at 
least  fifteen  or  twenty  of  their  ancient  locations  on  the  banks  of  this 
river,  and  can  easily  discover  the  regular  differences  in  the  ages  of 
these  antiquities ;  and  around  them  all  I  have  found  numerous  bits 
of  their  broken  pottery,  corresponding  with  that  which  they  are  now 
manufacturing  in  great  abundance ;  and  which  is  certainly  made  by 
no  other  tribe  in  these  regions.  These  evidences,  and  others  which 
I  shall  not  take  the  time  to  mention  in  this  place,  go  a  great  way  in 
my  mind  towards  strengthening  the  possibility  of  their  having  moved 
from  the  Ohio  river,  and  of  their  being  a  remnant  of  the  followers  of 
Madoc.  I  have  much  further  to  trace  them  yet,  however,  and  shall 
certainly  have  more  to  say  on  so  interesting  a  subject  in  future. 

Almost  every  mile  I  have  advanced  on  the  banks  of  this  river,  I 
have  met  evidences  and  marks  of  Indians  in  some  form  or  other ;  and 
they  have  generally  been  those  of  the  Sioux,  who  occupy  and  own 
the  greater  part  of  this  immense  region  of  country.  In  the  latter  part 
of  my  voyage,  however,  and  of  which  I  have  been  speaking  in  the 
former  part  of  this  Letter,  I  met  the  ancient  sites  of  the  O-ma-ha 
and  Oh-to  towns,  which  are  easily  detected  when  they  are  met.  In 


12 


Fig.  121  (letter  a),  is  seen  the  usual  mode  of  the  Omahas,  of  depositing 
their  dead  in  the  crotches  and  on  the  branches  of  trees,  enveloped  in 
skins,  and  never  without  a  wooden  dish  hanging  by  the  head  of  the 
corpse ;  probably  for  the  purpose  of  enabling  it  to  dip  up  water  to 
quench  its  thirst  on  the  long  and  tedious  journey,  which  they  generally 
expect  to  enter  on  after  death.  These  corpses  are  so  frequent  along 
the  banks  of  the  river,  that  in  some  places  a  dozen  or  more  of  them 
may  be  seen  at  one  view. 

Letter  B  in  the  same  Fig.,  shows  the  customs  of  the  Sioux,  which 
are  found  in  endless  numbers  on  the  river ;  and  in  fact,  through  every 
part  of  this  country.  The  wigwams  of  these  people  are  only  moveable 
tents,  and  leave  but  a  temporary  mark  to  be  discovered.  Their  burials, 
however,  are  peculiar  and  lasting  remains,  which  can  be  long  detected. 
They  often  deposit  their  dead  on  trees,  and  on  scaffolds ;  but  more 
generally  bury  in  the  tops  of  bluffs,  or  near  their  villages ;  when  they 
often  split  out  staves  and  drive  in  the  ground  around  the  grave,  to 
protect  it  from  the  trespass  of  dogs  or  wild  animals. 

Letter  c  (same  Fig.),  shows  the  character  of  Mandan  remains, 
that  are  met  with  in  numerous  places  on  the  river.  Their  mode  of 
resting  their  dead  upon  scaffolds  is  not  so  peculiar  to  them  as  posi¬ 
tively  to  distinguish  them  from  Sioux,  who  sometimes  bury  in  the 
same  way;  but  the  excavations  for  their  earth-covered  wigwams, 
which  I  have  said  are  two  feet  deep  in  the  ground,  with  the  ends  of 
the  decayed  timbers  remaining  in  them,  are  peculiar  and  conclusive 
evidence  of  their  being  of  Mandan  construction ;  and  the  custom  of 
leaving  the  skulls  bleached  upon  the  ground  in  circles  (as  I  have 
formerly  described  in  Fig.  48,  Yol.  I.),  instead  of  burying  them  as 
the  other  tribes  do,  forms  also  a  strong  evidence  of  the  fact  that  they 
are  Mandan  remains. 

In  most  of  these  sites  of  their  ancient  towns,  however,  I  have 
been  unable  to  find  about  their  burial  places,  these  characteristic 
deposits  of  the  skulls ;  from  which  I  conclude,  that  whenever  they 
deliberately  moved  to  a  different  region  they  buried  the  skulls  out  of 
respect  to  the  dead.  I  found,  just  back  of  one  of  these  sites  of  their 
ancient  towns,  however,  and  at  least  500  miles  below  where  they  now 
live,  the  same  arrangement  of  skulls  as  that  I  described  in  Fig.  48. 
They  had  laid  so  long,  however,  exposed  to  the  weather,  that  they 
were  reduced  almost  to  a  powder,  except  the  teeth,  which  mostly 
seemed  polished  and  sound  as  ever.  It  seems  that  no  human  hands 
had  dared  to  meddle  with  the  dead ;  and  that  even  their  enemies  had 
respected  them  ;  for  every  one,  and  there  were  at  least  two  hundred 
in  one  circle,  had  mouldered  to  chalk,  in  its  exact  relative  position. 


81 


121 


G.CaiL 


122 


13 


as  they  had  been  placed  in  a  circle.  In  this  case,  I  am  of  opinion 
that  the  village  was  besieged  by  the  Sioux,  and  entirely  destroyed ; 
or  that  the  Mandans  were  driven  off  without  the  power  to  stop  and 
bury  the  bones  of  their  dead. 

Belle  Vue  (Fig.  122)  is  a  lovely  scene  on  the  west  bank  of  the 
river,  about  nine  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  Platte,  and  is  the 
agency  of  Major  Dougherty,  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  effective 
agents  on  our  frontiers.  This  spot  is,  as  I  said,  lovely  in  itself ;  but 
doubly  so  to  the  eye  of  the  weather-beaten  voyageur  from  the  sources 
of  the  Missouri,  who  steers  his  canoe  in,  to  the  shore,  as  I  did,  and 
soon  finds  himself  a  welcome  guest  at  the  comfortable  board  of  the 
Major,  with  a  table  again  to  eat  from — and  that  (not  "  groaning ,”  but) 
standing  under  the  comfortable  weight  of  meat  and  vegetable  luxuries, 
products  of  the  labour  of  cultivating  man.  It  was  a  pleasure  to  see 
again,  in  this  great  wilderness,  a  civilised  habitation ;  and  still  more 
pleasant  to  find  it  surrounded  with  corn-fields,  and  potatoes,  with 
numerous  fruit-trees,  bending  under  the  weight  of  their  fruit — with 
pigs  and  poultry  and  kine ;  and  what  was  best  of  all,  to  see  the  kind 
and  benevolent  face,  that  never  looked  anything  but  welcome  to  the 
half-starved  guests,  who  throw  themselves  upon  him  from  the  North, 
from  the  South,  the  East,  or  the  West. 

At  this  place  I  was  in  the  country  of  the  Pawnees,  a  numerous 
tribe,  whose  villages  are  on  the  Platte  river,  and  of  whom  I  shall  say 
more  anon.  Major  Dougherty  has  been  for  many  years  the  agent 
for  this  hostile  tribe ;  and  by  his  familiar  knowledge  of  the  Indian 
character,  and  his  strict  honesty  and  integrity,  he  has  been  able  to 
effect  a  friendly  intercourse  with  them,  and  also  to  attract  the  ap¬ 
plause  and  highest  confidence  of  the  world,  as  well  as  of  the  author¬ 
ities  who  sent  him  there. 

An  hundred  miles  above  this,  I  passed  a  curious  feature,  called 
the  “  Square  Hills”  (Fig.  123).  I  landed  my  canoe,  and  went  ashore, 
and  to  their  tops  to  examine  them.  Though  they  appeared  to  be 
near  the  river,  I  found  it  half  a  day’s  journey  to  travel  to  and  from 
them  ;  they  being  several  miles  from  the  river.  On  ascending  them 
I  found  them  to  be  two  or  three  hundred  feet  high,  and  rising  on  their 
sides  at  an  angle  of  45  degrees ;  and  on  their  tops  in  some  places,  for 
half  a  mile  in  length,  perfectly  level,  with  a  green  turf,  and  corre¬ 
sponding  exactly  with  the  tabular  hills  spoken  of  above  the  Mandans, 
in  Fig.  39,  Yol.  I.  I  therein  said,  that  I  should  visit  these  hills  on 
my  way  down  the  river ;  and  I  am  fully  convinced,  from  close  exam¬ 
ination,  that  they  are  a  part  of  the  same  original  superstratum,  which 
I  therein  described,  though  seven  or  eight  hundred  miles  separated 


14 


from  them.  They  agree  exactly  in  character,  ancl  also  in  the  materials 
of  which  they  are  composed ;  and  I  believe,  that  some  unaccountable 
gorge  of  waters  has  swept  away  the  intervening  earth,  leaving  these 
solitary  and  isolated,  though  incontrovertible  evidences,  that  the 
summit  level  of  all  this  great  valley  has  at  one  time  been  where  the 
level  surface  of  these  hills  now  is,  two  or  three  hundred  feet  above 
what  is  now  generally  denominated  the  summit  level. 

The  mouth  of  the  Platte  (Fig.  124)  is  a  beautiful  scene,  and  no 
doubt  will  be  the  site  of  a  large  and  flourishing  town,  soon  after  Indian 
titles  shall  have  been  extinguished  to  the  lands  in  these  regions,  which 
will  be  done  within  a  very  few  years.  The  Platte  is  a  long  and  power¬ 
ful  stream,  pouring  in  from  the  Eocky  Mountains  and  joining  with 
the  Missouri  at  this  place. 

In  this  voyage,  as  in  all  others  that  I  have  performed,  I  kept  my 
journal,  but  I  have  not  room,  it  will  be  seen,  to  insert  more  than  an 
occasional  extract  from  it  for  my  present  purpose.  In  this  voyage* 
Ba’tiste  and  Bogard  were  my  constant  companions ;  and  we  all  had 
our  rifles,  and  used  them  often.  We  often  went  ashore  amongst  the 
herds  of  buffaloes,  and  were  obliged  to  do  so  for  our  daily  food.  We 
lived  the  whole  way  on  buffaloes’  flesh  and  venison — we  had  no 
bread ;  but  laid  in  a  good  stock  of  coffee  and  sugar.  These,  however* 
from  an  unforeseen  accident,  availed  us  but  little  ;  as  on  the  second  or 
third  day  of  our  voyage,  after  we  had  taken  our  coffee  on  the  shore, 
and  Ba’tiste  and  Bogard  had  gone  in  pursuit  of  a  herd  of  buffaloes,  I 
took  it  in  my  head  to  have  an  extra  very  fine  dish  of  coffee  to  myself, 
as  the  fire  was  fine.  For  this  purpose,  I  added  more  coffee-grounds 
to  the  pot,  and  placed  it  on  the  fire,  which  I  sat  watching,  when  I 
saw  a  fine  buffalo  cow  wending  her  way  leisurely  over  the  hills,  but 
a  little  distance  from  me,  for  whom  I  started  at  once,  with  my  rifle 
trailed  in  my  hand ;  and  after  creeping,  and  running,  and  heading, 
and  all  that,  for  half  an  hour,  without  getting  a  shot  at  her ;  I  came 
back  to  the  encampment,  where  I  found  my  two  men  with  meat 
enough,  but  in  the  most  uncontrollable  rage,  for  my  coffee  had  all 
boiled  out,  and  the  coffee-pot  was  melted  to  pieces ! 

This  was  truly  a  deplorable  accident,  and  one  that  could  in  no 
effectual  way  be  remedied.  We  afterwards  botched  up  a  mess  or 
two  of  it  in  our  frying-pan,  but  to  little  purpose,  and  then  abandoned 
it  to  Bogard  alone,  who  thankfully  received  the  dry  coffee-grounds 
and  sugar,  at  his  meals,  which  he  soon  entirely  demolished. 

We  met  immense  numbers  of  buffaloes  in  the  early  part  of  our 
voyage  and  used  to  land  our  canoe  almost  every  hour  in  the  day; 
and  oftentimes  all  together  approach  the  unsuspecting  herds,  through 


! 


'■o/hri 


63 


rj  CatkrL. 


15 


some  deep  and  hidden  ravine  within  a  few  rods  of  them,  and  at  the 
word,  “pull  trigger,”  each  of  us  bring  down  our  victim  (Fig. 
125). 

In  one  instance,  near  the  mouth  of  White  River,  we  met  the  most 
immense  herd  crossing  the  Missouri  River — and  from  an  imprudence 
got  our  boat  into  imminent  danger  amongst  them,  from  which  we 
were  highly  delighted  to  make  our  escape.  It  was  in  the  midst  of 
the  “running  season,”  and  we  had  heard  the  “roaring”  (as  it  is 
called)  of  the  herd  when  we  were  several  miles  from  them.  When 
we  came  in  sight,  we  were  actually  terrified  at  the  immense  numbers 
that  were  streaming  down  the  green  hills  on  one  side  of  the  river, 
and  galloping  up  and  over  the  bluffs  on  the  other.  The  river  was 
filled,  and  in  parts  blackened,  with  their  heads  and  horns,  as  they 
were  swimming  about,  following  up  their  objects,  and  making 
desperate  battle  whilst  they  were  swimming. 

I  deemed  it  imprudent  for  our  canoe  to  be  dodging  amongst  them, 
and  ran  it  ashore  for  a  few  hours,  where  we  lay,  waiting  for  the 
opportunity  of  seeing  the  river  clear ;  but  we  waited  in  vain.  Their 
numbers,  however,  got  somewhat  diminished  at  last,  and  we  pushed  off, 
and  successfully  made  our  way  amongst  them.  From  the  immense 
numbers  that  had  passed  the  river  at  that  place,  they  had  torn  down 
the  prairie  bank  of  fifteen  feet  in  height,  so  as  to  form  a  sort  of  road 
or  landing-place,  where  they  all  in  succession  clambered  up.  Many 
in  their  turmoil  had  been  wafted  below  this  landing,  and  unable  to 
regain  it  against  the  swiftness  of  the  current,  had  fastened  them¬ 
selves  along  in  crowds,  hugging  close  to  the  high  bank  under  which 
they  were  standing.  As  we  were  drifting  by  these,  and  supposing 
ourselves  out  of  danger,  I  drew  up  my  rifle  and  shot  one  of  them  in 
the  head,  which  tumbled  into  the  water  and  brought  with  him  a 
hundred  others,  which  plunged  in,  and  in  a  moment  were  swimming 
about  our  canoe,  and  placing  it  in  great  danger  (Fig.  126).  No 
attack  was  made  upon  us,  and  in  the  confusion  the  poor  beasts  knew 
not,  perhaps,  the  enemy  that  was  amongst  them ;  but  we  were  liable 
to  be  sunk  by  them,  as  they  were  furiously  hooking  and  climbing 
on  to  each  other.  I  rose  in  my  canoe,  and  by  my  gestures  and 
hallooing,  kept  them  from  coming  in  contact  with  us,  until  we  were 
out  of  their  reach. 

This  was  one  of  the  instances  that  I  formerly  spoke  of,  where 
thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of  these  animals  congregate  in  the 
running  season,  and  move  about  from  East  and  West,  or  wherever 
accident  or  circumstances  may  lead  them.  In  this  grand  crusade, 
no  one  can  know  the  numbers  that  may  have  made  the  ford  within 


16 


a  few  days ;  nor  in  their  blinded  fury  in  such  scenes,  would  feeble 
man  be  much  respected. 

During  the  remainder  of  that  day  we  paddled  onward,  and  passed 
many  of  their  carcasses  floating  on  the  current,  or  lodged  on  the 
heads  of  islands  and  sand-bars.  And,  in  the  vicinity  of,  and  not  far 
below  the  grand  turmoil,  we  passed  several  that  were  mired  in  the 
quicksand  near  the  shores ;  some  were  standing  fast  and  half- 
immersed  ;  whilst  others  were  nearly  out  of  sight,  and  gasping 
for  the  last  breath ;  others  were  standing  with  all  legs  fast,  and  one 
half  of  their  bodies  above  the  water,  and  their  heads  sunk  under  it, 
where  they  had  evidently  remained  several  days;  and  flocks  of 
ravens  and  crows  were  covering  their  backs,  and  picking  the  flesh 
from  their  dead  bodies. 

So  much  of  the  Upper  Missouri  and  its  modes,  at  present; 
though  I  have  much  more  in  store  for  some  future  occasion. 

Fort  Leavenworth,  which  is  on  the  Lower  Missouri,  being  below 
the  mouth  of  the  Platte,  is  the  nucleus  of  another  neighbourhood  of 
Indians,  amongst  whom  I  am  to  commence  my  labours,  and  of  whom 
I  shall  soon  be  enabled  to  give  some  account.  So,  for  the  present.. 
Adieu, 


LETTER — No.  33 


FORT  LEAVENWORTH,  LOWER  MISSOURI 

I  mentioned  in  a  former  epistle,  that  this  is  the  extreme  outpost 
on  the  Western  Frontier,  and  built,  like  several  others,  in  the  heart 
of  the  Indian  country.  There  is  no  finer  tract  of  lands  in  North 
America,  or,  perhaps,  in  the  world,  than  that  vast  space  of  prairie 
country,  which  lies  in  the  vicinity  of  this  post,  embracing  it  on  all 
sides.  This  garrison,  like  many  others  on  the  frontiers,  is  avowedly 
placed  here  for  the  purpose  of  protecting  our  frontier  inhabitants 
from  the  incursions  of  Indians ;  and  also  for  the  purpose  of  preser¬ 
ving  the  peace  amongst  the  different  hostile  tribes,  who  seem 
continually  to  wage,  and  glory  in,  their  deadly  wars.  How  far 
these  feeble  garrisons,  which  are  generally  but  half  manned,  have 
been,  or  will  be,  able  to  intimidate  and  control  the  warlike  ardour 
of  these  restless  and  revengeful  spirits ;  or  how  far  they  will  be 
able  in  desperate  necessity,  to  protect  the  lives  and  property  of  the 
honest  pioneer,  is  yet  to  be  tested. 

They  have  doubtless  been  designed  with  the  best  views,  to  effect 
the  most  humane  objects,  though  I  very  much  doubt  the  benefits 
that  are  anticipated  to  flow  from  them,  unless  a  more  efficient 
number  of  men  are  stationed  in  them  than  I  have  generally  found ; 
enough  to  promise  protection  to  the  Indian,  and  then  to  ensure,  it  • 
instead  of  promising,  and  leaving  them  to  seek  it  in  their  own  way 
at  last,  and  when  they  are  least  prepared  to  do  it. 

When  I  speak  of  this  post  as  being  on  the  Lower  Missouri,  I  do 
not  wish  to  convey  the  idea  that  I  am  down  near  the  sea-coast,  at 
the  mouth  of  the  river,  or  near  it ;  I  only  mean  that  I  am  on  the 
lower  part  of  the  Missouri,  yet  600  miles  above  its  junction  with 
the  Mississippi,  and  near  2000  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  into  which 
the  Mississippi  discharges  its  waters. 

In  this  delightful  Cantonment  there  are  generally  stationed  six 
or  seven  companies  of  infantry,  and  ten  or  fifteen  officers ;  several 
of  whom  have  their  wives  and  daughters  with  them,  forming  a  very 
pleasant  little  community,  who  are  almost  continually  together  in 
social  enjoyment  of  the  peculiar  amusements  and  pleasures  of  this 
wild  country.  Of  these  pastimes  they  have  many,  such  as  riding 
VOL.  II.  17  B 


IS 


on  horseback  or  in  carriages  over  the  beautiful  green  fields  of  the 
prairies,  picking  strawberries  and  wild  plums — deer  chasing — grouse 
shooting — horse-racing,  and  other  amusements  of  the  garrison,  in 
which  they  are  almost  constantly  engaged ;  enjoying  life  to  a  very 
high  degree. 

In  these  delightful  amusements,  and  with  these  pleasing  com¬ 
panions,  I  have  been  for  a  while  participating  with  great  satisfaction  ; 
I  have  joined  several  times  in  the  deer-hunts,  and  more  frequently 
in  grouse  shooting,  which  constitutes  the  principal  amusement  of 
this  place. 

This  delicious  bird,  which  is  found  in  great  abundance  in  nearly 
all  the  North  American  prairies,  and  most  generally  called  the 
Prairie  Hen,  is,  from  what  I  can  learn,  very  much  like  the  English 
grouse,  or  heath  hen,  both  in  size,  in  colour,  and  in  habits.  They 
make  their  appearance  in  these  parts  in  the  months  of  August  and 
September,  from  the  higher  latitudes,  where  they  go  in  the  early 
part  of  the  summer,  to  raise  their  broods.  This  is  the  season  for 
the  best  sport  amongst  them;  and  the  whole  garrison,  in  fact,  are 
almost  subsisted  on  them  at  this  time,  owing  to  the  facility  with 
which  they  are  killed. 

I  was  lucky  enough  the  other  day,  with  one  of  the  officers  of 
the  garrison,  to  gain  the  enviable  distinction  of  having  brought  in 
together  seventy-five  of  these  fine  birds,  which  we  killed  in  one 
afternoon ;  and  although  I  am  quite  ashamed  to  confess  the  manner 
in  which  we  killed  the  greater  part  of  them,  I  am  not  so  professed 
a  sportsman  as  to  induce  me  to  conceal  the  fact.  We  had  a  fine 
pointer,  and  had  legitimately  followed  the  sportsman’s  style  for  a 
part  of  the  afternoon ;  but  seeing  the  prairies  on  fire  several  miles 
ahead  of  us,  and  the  wind  driving  the  fire  gradually  towards  us, 
we  found  these  poor  birds  driven  before  its  long  line,  which  seemed 
to  extend  from  horizon  to  horizon,  and  they  were  flying  in  swarms 
or  flocks  that  would  at  times  almost  fill  the  air.  They  generally 
flew  half  a  mile  or  so,  and  lit  down  again  in  the  grass,  where  they 
would  sit  until  the  fire  was  close  upon  them,  and  then  they  would 
rise  again.  We  observed  by  watching  their  motions,  that  they  lit 
in  great  numbers  in  every  solitary  tree;  and  we  placed  ourselves 
near  each  of  these  trees  in  turn,  and  shot  them  down  as  they  settled 
in  them ;  sometimes  killing  five  or  six  at  a  shot,  by  getting  a  range 
upon  them. 

In  this  way  we  retreated  for  miles  before  the  flames,  in  the 
midst  of  the  flocks,  and  keeping  company  with  them  where  they 
were  carried  along  in  advance  of  the  fire,  in  accumulating  numbers; 


128 


19 


many  of  which  had  been  driven  along  for  many  milea.  We  murdered 
the  poor  birds  in  this  way,  until  we  had  as  many  as  we  could  well 
carry,  and  laid  our  course  back  to  the  Fort,  where  we  got  much 
credit  for  our  great  shooting,  and  where  we  were  mutually  pledged 
to  keep  the  secret. 

The  prairies  burning  form  some  of  the  most  beautiful  scenes 
that  are  to  be  witnessed  in  this  country,  and  also  some  of  the  most 
sublime.  Every  acre  of  these  vast  prairies  (being  covered  for 
hundreds  and  hundreds  of  miles,  with  a  crop  of  grass,  which  dies 
and  dries  in  the  fall)  burns  over  during  the  fall  or  early  in  the 
spring,  leaving  the  ground  of  a  black  and  doleful  colour. 

There  are  many  modes  by  which  the  fire  is  communicated  to 
them,  both  by  white  men  and  by  Indians — par  accident ;  and  yet 
many  more  where  it  is  voluntarily  done  for  the  purpose  of  getting 
a  fresh  crop  of  grass,  for  the  grazing  of  their  horses,  and  also  for 
easier  travelling  during  the  next  summer,  when  there  will  be  no 
old  grass  to  lie  upon  the  prairies,  entangling  the  feet  of  man  and 
horse,  as  they  are  passing  over  them. 

Over  the  elevated  lands  and  prairie  bluffs,  where  the  grass  is 
thin  and  short,  the  fire  slowly  creeps  with  a  feeble  flame,  which  one 
can  easily  step  over  (Fig.  127) ;  where  the  wild  animals  often  rest 
in  their  lairs  until  the  flames  almost  burn  their  noses,  when  they 
will  reluctantly  rise,  and  leap  over  it,  and  trot  off  amongst  the 
cinders,  where  the  fire  has  past  and  left  the  ground  as  black  as  jet. 
These  scenes  at  night  become  indescribably  beautiful,  when  their 
flames  are  seen  at  many  miles  distance,  creeping  over  the  sides  and 
tops  of  the  bluffs,  appearing  to  be  sparkling  and  brilliant  chains 
of  liquid  fire  (the  hills  being  lost  to  the  view),  hanging  suspended 
in  graceful  festoons  from  the  skies. 

But  there  is  yet  another  character  of  burning  prairies  (Fig.  128), 
that  requires  another  Letter,  and  a  different  pen  to  describe — the 
war,  or  hell  of  fires !  where  the  grass  is  seven  or  eight  feet  high, 
as  is  often  the  case  for  many  miles  together,  on  the  Missouri  bottoms ; 
and  the  flames  are  driven  forward  by  the  hurricanes,  which  often 
sweep  over  the  vast  prairies  of  this  denuded  country.  There  are 
many  of  these  meadows  on  the  Missouri,  the  Platte,  and  the 
Arkansas,  of  many  miles  in  breadth,  which  are  perfectly  level,  with 
a  waving  grass,  so  high,  that  we  are  obliged  to  stand  erect  in  our 
stirrups,  in  order  to  look  over  its  waving  tops,  as  we  are  riding 
through  it.  The  fire  in  these,  before  such  a  wind,  travels  at  an 
immense  and  frightful  rate,  and  often  destroys,  on  their  fleetest 
horses,  parties  of  Indians,  who  are  so  unlucky  as  to  be  overtaken  by 


20 


it ;  not  that  it  travels  as  fast  as  a  horse  at  full  speed,  but  that  the 
high  grass  is  filled  with  wild  pea-vines  and  other  impediments,  which 
render  it  necessary  for  the  rider  to  guide  his  horse  in  the  zig-zag 
paths  of  the  deers  and  buffaloes,  retarding  his  progress,  until  he  is 
overtaken  by  the  dense  column  of  smoke  that  is  swept  before  the 
fire  —  alarming  the  horse,  which  stops  and  stands  terrified  and 
immutable,  till  the  burning  grass  which  is  wafted  in  the  wind,  falls 
about  him,  kindling  up  in  a  moment  a  thousand  new  fires,  which 
are  instantly  wrapped  in  the  swelling  flood  of  smoke  that  is  moving 
on  like  a  black  thunder-cloud,  rolling  on  the  earth,  with  its  light¬ 
ning’s  glare,  and  its  thunder  rumbling  as  it  goes. 

*  -Si-  *  *-  *  -*• 

When  Ba’tiste,  and  Bogard,  and  I,  and  Patrick  Baymond  (who  like 
Bogard  had  been  a  free  trapper  in  the  Bocky  Mountains),  and 
Pah-me-o-ne-qua  (the  red  thunder),  our  guide  back  from  a  neighbour¬ 
ing  village,  were  jogging  along  on  the  summit  of  an  elevated  bluff, 
overlooking  an  immense  valley  of  high  grass,  through  which  we 
were  about  to  lay  our  course. - 

ifc  $!<■  ifc  ifc 

“Well,  then,  you  say  you  have  seen  the  prairies  on  fire?”  Yes. 
“You  have  seen  the  fire  on  the  mountains,  and  beheld  it  feebly 
creeping  over  the  grassy  hills  of  the  North,  where  the  toad  and  the 
timid  snail  were  pacing  from  its  approach — all  this  you  have  seen, 
and  who  has  not?  But  who  has  seen  the  vivid  lightnings,  and 
heard  the  roaring  thunder  of  the  rolling  conflagration  which  sweeps 
over  the  deep-clad  prairies  of  the  West?  Who  has  dashed,  on  his 
wild  horse,  through  an  ocean  of  grass,  with  the  raging  tempest  at 
his  back,  rolling  over  the  land  its  swelling  waves  of  liquid  fire  ?  ” 
What !  “  Aye,  even  so.  Ask  the  red  savage  of  the  wilds  what  is 

awful  and  sublime — Ask  him  where  the  Great  Spirit  has  mixed 
up  all  the  elements  of  death,  and  if  he  does  not  blow  them  over  the 
land  in  a  storm  of  fire  ?  Ask  him  what  foe  he  has  met,  that  regarded 
not  his  frightening  yells,  or  his  sinewy  bow?  Ask  these  lords  of  the 
land,  who  vauntingly  challenge  the  thunder  and  lightning  of  Heaven 
— whether  there  is  not  one  foe  that  travels  over  their  land,  too  swift 
for  their  feet,  and  too  mighty  for  their  strength — at  whose  approach 
their  stout  hearts  sicken,  and  their  strong-armed  courage  withers 
to  nothing  ?  Ask  him  again  (if  he  is  sullen,  and  his  eyes  set  in 

their  sockets) — ‘  Hush  ! - sh ! - sh  !  ’ — (he  will  tell  you,  with 

a  soul  too  proud  to  confess — his  head  sunk  on  his  breast,  and  his 
hand  over  his  mouth) — ‘  that’s  medicine  /’”  *  *  * 

iff  ^ 


21 


I  said  to  my  comrades,  as  we  were  about  to  descend  from  the 
towering  bluffs  into  the  prairie — “We  will  take  that  buffalo  trail, 
where  the  travelling  herds  have  slashed  down  the  high  grass,  and 
making  for  that  blue  point,  rising,  as  you  can  just  discern,  above 
this  ocean  of  grass ;  a  good  day’s  work  will  bring  us  over  this  vast 
meadow  before  sunset.”  We  entered  the  trail,  and  slowly  progressed 
on  our  way,  being  obliged  to  follow  the  winding  paths  of  the 
buffaloes,  for  the  grass  was  higher  than  the  backs  of  our  horses. 
Soon  after  we  entered,  my  Indian  guide  dismounted  slowly  from 
his  horse,  and  lying  prostrate  on  the  ground,  with  his  face  in  the 
dirt,  he  cried,  and  was  talking  to  the  Spirits  of  the  brave — “  For,” 
said  he,  “  over  this  beautiful  plain  dwells  the  Spirit  of  fire !  he  rides 
in  yonder  cloud — his  face  blackens  with  rage  at  the  sound  of  the 
trampling  hoofs — the  fire-low  is  in  his  hand — he  draws  it  across 
the  path  of  the  Indian,  and  quicker  than  lightning,  a  thousand 
flames  rise  to  destroy  him ;  such  is  the  talk  of  my  fathers,  and  the 
ground  is  whitened  with  their  bones.  It  was  here,”  said  he,  “  that 
the  brave  son  of  Wah-chee-ton,  and  the  strong-armed  warriors  of 
his  band,  just  twelve  moons  since,  licked  the  fire  from  the  blazing 
wand  of  that  great  magician.  Their  pointed  spears  were  drawn 
upon  the  backs  of  the  treacherous  Sioux,  whose  swifter-flying  horses 
led  them,  in  vain,  to  the  midst  of  this  valley  of  death.  A  circular 
cloud  sprang  up  from  the  prairie  around  them !  it  was  raised,  and 
their  doom  was  fixed  by  the  Spirit  of  fire !  It  was  on  this  vast 
plain  of  fire-grass  that  waves  over  our  heads,  that  the  swift  foot 
■of  Mah-to-ga  was  laid.  It  is  here,  also,  that  the  fleet-bounding  wild 
horse  mingles  his  bones  with  the  red  man ;  and  the  eagle’s  wing  is 
melted  as  he  darts  over  its  surface.  Friends  !  it  is  the  season  of  fire; 
and  I  fear,  from  the  smell  of  the  wind,  that  the  Spirit  is  awake !  ” 
Pah-me-o-ne-qua  said  no  more,  but  mounted  his  wild  horse,  and 
waving  his  hand,  his  red  shoulders  were  seen  rapidly  vanishing  as  he 
glided  through  the  thick  mazes  of  waving  grass.  We  were  on  his 
trail,  and  busily  traced  him  until  the  midday-sun  had  brought  us  to 
the  ground,  with  our  refreshments  spread  before  us.  He  partook  of 
them  not,  but  stood  like  a  statue,  while  his  black  eyes  in  sullen 
silence,  swept  the  horizon  round  ;  and  then,  with  a  deep-drawn  sigh, 
he  gracefully  sunk  to  the  earth,  and  lay  with  his  face  to  the  ground. 
Our  buffalo  tongues  and  pemican,  and  marrow-fat,  were  spread  before 
us ;  and  we  were  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  these  dainties  of  the  Western 
world,  when,  quicker  than  the  frightened  elk,  our  Indian  friend  sprang 
upon  his  feet !  His  eyes  skimmed  again  slowly  over  the  prairies’ 
.surface,  and  he  laid  himself  as  before  on  the  ground. 


22 


“  Eed  Thunder  seems  sullen  to-day,”  said  Bogard--“  he  startles  at 
every  rush  of  the  wind,  and  scowls  at  the  whole  world  that  is  about 
him.” 

“  There’s  a  rare  chap  for  you — a  fellow  who  would  shake  his  fist 
at  Heaven,  when  he  is  at  home ;  and  here,  in  a  grass-patch,  must  make 
his  fire-medicine  for  a  circumstance  that  he  could  easily  leave  at  a  shake 
of  his  horse’s  heels.” 

“  Hot  sae  sure  o’  that,  my  hooney,  though  we’ll  not  be  making  toe 
lightly  of  the  matter,  nor  either  be  frightened  at  the  mon’s  strange 
octions.  But,  Bogard,  I’ll  tell  ye  in  a  ’ord  (and  thot’s  enough),  there’s 
something  more  than  odds  in  all  this  ‘  medicine.'  If  this  mon’s  a  fool, 
he  was  born  out  of  his  own  country,  that’s  all — and  if  the  divil  iver 
gits  him,  he  must  take  him  cowld,  for  he  is  too  swift  and  too  wide¬ 
awake  to  be  taken  alive — you  understond  thot,  I  suppouse  ?  But,  to 
come  to  the  plain  matter — supposin  that  the  Fire  Spirit  (and  I  go  for 
somewhat  of  witchcraft),  I  say  supposin  that  this  Fire  Spirit  should 
jist  impty  his  pipe  on  tother  side  of  this  prairie,  and  strike  up  a  bit 
of  a  blaze  in  this  high  grass,  and  send  it  packing  across  in  this  direc¬ 
tion,  before  sich  a  death  of  a  wind  as  this  is !  By  the  hill  barley,  I’ll 
bet  you’d  be  after  ‘  making  medicine,’  and  taking  a  bit  of  it,  too,  to  get 
rid  of  the  racket.” 

“  Yes,  but  you  see,  Patrick—” 

“  Neever  mind  thot  (not  wishin  to  distarb  you) ;  and  suppouse  the 
blowin  wind  was  coming  fast  ahead,  jist  blowin  about  our  ears  a  warld 
of  smoke  and  chokin  us  to  dith,  and  we  were  dancin  about  a  Varginny 
reel  among  these  little  paths,  where  the  divil  would  we  be  by  the  time 
we  got  to  that  bluff,  for  it’s  now  fool  of  a  distance  ?  Givin  you  time  to 
spake,  I  would  say  a  word  more  (askin  your  pardon),  I  know  by  the 
expression  of  your  face,  mon,  you  neever  have  seen  the  world  on  fire 
yet,  and  therefore  you  know  nothin  at  all  of  a  hurly  burly  of  this  kind 
— did  ye  ? — did  ye  iver  see  (and  I  jist  want  to  know),  did  ye  iver  see 
the  fire  in  high-grass,  runnin  with  a  strong  wind,  about  five  mile  and 
the  half,  and  thin  hear  it  strike  into  a  slash  of  dry  cane  brake !  !  I 
would  jist  ax  you  that  ?  By  thuneder  you  niver  have — for  your  eyes 
would  jist  stick  out  of  your  head  at  the  thought  of  it !  Did  ye  iver 
look  way  into  the  backside  of  Mr  Maelzel’s  Moscow,  and  see  the  flashin 
flames  a  runnin  up;  and  then  hear  the  poppin  of  the  militia  fire  jist 
afterwards  ?  then  you  have  jist  a  touch  of  it !  ye’re  jist  beginnin — ye 
may  talk  about  fires — but  this  is  sich  a  baste  of  a  fire  !  Ask  Jack 
Sanford,  he’s  a  chop  that  can  tall  you  all  aboot  it.  Not  wishin  to 
distarb  you,  I  would  say  a  word  more — and  that  is  this — If  I  were 
advisin,  I  would  say  that  we  are  gettin  too  far  into  this  imbustible 


23 


meadow ;  for  the  grass  is  dry,  and  the  wind  is  too  strong  to  make  a 
light  matter  of, 'at  this  sason  of  the  year;  an  now  I’ll  jist  tell  ye  how 
M'Kenzie  and  I  were  sarved  in  this  very  place  about  two  years  ago ; 

and  he’s  a  worldly  chop,  and  niver  aslape,  my  word  for  that - 

hullo,  what’s  that !  ” 

Red  Thunder  was  on  his  feet ! — his  long  arm  was  stretched  over 
the  grass,  and  his  blazing  eye-balls  starting  from  their  sockets ! 
“  White  man  (said  he),  see  ye  that  small  cloud  lifting  itself  from  the 
prairie  ?  he  rises  !  the  hoofs  of  our  horses  have  waked  him  !  The  Fire 
Spirit  is  awake — this  wind  is  from  his  nostrils,  and  his  face  is  this 
way !  ”  No  more — but  his  swift  horse  darted  under  him,  and  he  grace¬ 
fully  slid  over  the  waving  grass  as  it  was  bent  by  the  wind.  Our 
viands  were  left,  and  we  were  swift  on  his  trail.  The  extraordinary 
leaps  of  his  wild  horse,  occasionally  raised  his  red  shoulders  to  view, 
and  he  sank  again  in  the  waving  billows  of  grass.  The  tremulous 
wind  was  hurrying  by  us  fast,  and  on  it  was  borne  the  agitated  wing 
of  the  soaring  eagle.  His  neck  was  stretched  for  the  towering  bluff, 
and  the  thrilling  screams  of  his  voice  told  the  secret  that  was  behind 
him.  Our  horses  were  swift,  and  we  struggled  hard,  yet  hope  was 
feeble,  for  the  bluff  was  yet  blue,  and  nature  nearly  exhausted  !  The 
sunshine  was  dying,  and  a  cool  shadow  advancing  over  the  plain. 
Not  daring  to  look  back,  we  strained  every  nerve.  The  roar  of  a 
distant  cataract  seemed  gradually  advancing  on  us — the  winds  in¬ 
creased,  the  howling  tempest  was  maddening  behind  us — and  the 
swift-winged  beetle  and  heath  hens,  instinctively  drew  their  straight 
lines  over  our  heads.  The  fleet-bounding  antelope  passed  us  also ;  and 
the  still  swifter  long-legged  hare,  who  leaves  but  a  shadow  as  he  flies ! 
Here  was  no  time  for  thought — but  I  recollect  the  heavens  were 
overcast — the  distant  thunder  was  heard — the  lightning’s  glare  was 
reddening  the  scene — and  the  smell  that  came  on  the  winds  struck 
terror  to  my  soul !  *  *  *  *  The  piercing  yell 

of  my  savage  guide  at  this  moment  came  back  upon  the  winds — his 
robe  was  seen  waving  in  the  air,  and  his  foaming  horse  leaping  up  the 
towering  bluff! 

Our  breath  and  our  sinews,  in  this  last  struggle  for  life,  were  just 
enough  to  bring  us  to  its  summit.  We  had  risen  from  a  sea  of  fire! 
“  Great  God!  (I  exclaimed)  how  sublime  to  gaze  into  that  valley,  where 
the  elements  of  nature  are  so  strangely  convulsed  !  ”  Ask  not  the  poet 
or  painter  how  it  looked,  for  they  can  tell  you  not ;  but  ask  the  naked 
savage,  and  watch  the  electric  twinge  of  his  manly  nerves  and  muscles, 

as  he  pronounces  the  lengthened  “  hush - sh - ”  his  hand  on 

his  mouth,  and  his  glaring  eye-balls  looking  you  to  the  very  soul! 


24 


I  beheld  beneath  me  an  immense  cloud  of  black  smoke,  which 
extended  from  one  extremity  of  this  vast  plain  to  the  other,  and 
seemed  majestically  to  roll  over  its  surface  in  a  bed  of  liquid  fire ; 
and  above  this  mighty  desolation,  as  it  rolled  along,  the  whitened 
smoke,  pale  with  terror,  was  streaming  and  rising  up  in  magnificent 
cliffs  to  heaven ! 

I  stood  secure,  but  tremblingly,  and  heard  the  maddening  wind 
which  hurled  this  monster  o’er  the  land — I  heard  the  roaring  thunder 
and  saw  its  thousand  lightnings  flash ;  and  then  I  saw  behind,  the 
black  and  smoking  desolation  of  this  storm  of  fire  ! 


129  130 


is  fib&Z'  To. 


132 


I 


LETTER — No.  34 


FORT  LEAVENWORTH,  LOWER  MISSOURI 

Since  writing  the  last  epistle,  some  considerable  time  has  elapsed,, 
which  has,  nevertheless,  been  filled  up  and  used  to  advantage,  as  I 
have  been  moving  about  and  using  my  brush  amongst  different  tribes 
in  this  vicinity.  The  Indians  that  may  be  said  to  belong  to  this 
vicinity,  and  who  constantly  visit  this  post,  are  the  Ioways — Konzas 
— Pawnees — Omahas — Ottoes,  and  Missouries  (primitive),  and  Dela¬ 
wares  —  Kickapoos  —  Potawatomies  —  Weahs  —  Peorias — Shawanos, 
Kaskaskias  (semi-civilised  remnants  of  tribes  that  have  been  removed 
to  this  neighbourhood  by  the  Government,  within  the  few  years  past). 
These  latter-named  tribes  are,  to  a  considerable  degree,  agriculturists  ; 
getting  their  living  principally  by  ploughing,  and  raising  corn,  and 
cattle  and  horses.  They  have  been  left  on  the  frontier,  surrounded 
by  civilised  neighbours,  where  they  have  at  length  been  induced  to 
sell  out  their  lands,  or  exchange  them  for  a  much  larger  tract  of  wild 
lands  in  these  regions,  which  the  Government  has  purchased  from  the 
wilder  tribes. 

Of  the  first  named,  the  Ioways  may  be  said  to  be  the  farthest 
departed  from  primitive  modes,  as  they  are  depending  chiefly  on 
their  cornfields  for  subsistence ;  though  their  appearance,  both  in  their 
dwellings  and  personal  looks,  dress,  modes,  etc.,  is  that  of  the  primitive 
Indian. 

The  Ioways  are  a  small  tribe,  of  about  fourteen  hundred  persons, 
living  in  a  snug  little  village  within  a  few  miles  of  the  eastern  bank 
of  the  Missouri  River,  a  few  miles  above  this  place. 

The  present  chief  of  this  tribe  is  Notch- ee-ning-a  (the  white  cloud, 
Fig.  129),  the  son  of  a  very  distinguished  chief  of  the  same  name,  who 
died  recently,  after  gaining  the  love  of  his  tribe,  and  the  respect  of 
all  the  civilised  world  who  knew  him.  If  my  time  and  space  will 
admit  it,  and  I  should  not  forget  it,  I  shall  take  another  occasion  to 
detail  some  of  the  famous  transactions  of  his  signal  life. 

The  son  of  White  Cloud,  who  is  now  chief,  and  whose  portrait  I 
have  just  named,  was  tastefully  dressed  with  a  buffalo  robe,  wrapped 
around  him,  with  a  necklace  of  grizzly  bear’s  claws  on  his  neck ;  with 


26 


shield,  bow,  and  quiver  on,  and  a  profusion  of  wampum  strings  on  his 
neck. 

Wy-ee-yogh  (the  man  of  sense,  Fig.  130),  is  another  of  this  tribe, 
much  distinguished  for  his  bravery  and  early  warlike  achievements. 
His  head  was  dressed  with  a  broad  silver  band  passing  around  it, 
and  decked  out  with  the  crest  of  horsehair. 

Pah-ta-coo-che  (the  shooting  cedar,  Fig.  131),  and  Was-com-mum 
(the  busy  man,  Fig.  132),  are  also  distinguished  warriors  of  the  tribe ; 
tastefully  dressed  and  equipped,  the  one  with  his  war-club  on  his 
arm,  the  other  with  bow  and  arrows  in  his  hand ;  both  wore  around 
their  waists  beautiful  buffalo  robes,  and  both  had  turbans  made  of 
vari -coloured  cotton  shawls,  purchased  of  the  Fur  Traders.  Around 
their  necks  were  necklaces  of  the  bear’s  claws,  and  a  profusion  of 
beads  and  wampum.  Their  ears  were  profusely  strung  with  beads ; 
and  their  naked  shoulders  curiously  streaked  and  daubed  with  red 
paint. 

Others  of  this  tribe  will  be  found  amongst  the  paintings  in  my 
Indian  Museum;  and  more  of  them  and  their  customs  given  at  a 
future  time. 

The  Konzas,  of  1560  souls,  reside  at  the  distance  of  sixty  or 
eighty  miles  from  this  place,  on  the  Konzas  Eiver,  fifty  miles  above 
its  union  with  the  Missouri,  from  the  West. 

This  tribe  has  undoubtedly  sprung  from  the  Osages,  as  their 
personal  appearance,  language  and  traditions  clearly  prove.  They 
are  living  adjoining  to  the  Osages  at  this  time,  and  although  a 
kindred  people,  have  sometimes  deadly  warfare  with  them.  The 
present  chief  of  this  tribe  is  known  by  the  name  of  the  “White 
Plume ;  ”  a  very  urbane  and  hospitable  man,  of  good  portly  size, 
speaking  some  English,  and  making  himself  good  company  for  all 
white  persons  who  travel  through  his  country  and  have  the  good 
luck  to  shake  his  liberal  and  hospitable  hand. 

It  has  been  to  me  a  source  of  much  regret,  that  I  did  not  get  the 
portrait  of  this  celebrated  chief ;  but  I  have  painted  several  others 
distinguished  in  the  tribe,  which  are  fair  specimens  of  these  people. 
Sho-me-cos-se  (the  wolf,  Fig.  133),  a  chief  of  some  distinction,  with 
a  bold  and  manly  outline  of  head ;  exhibiting,  like  most  of  this  tribe, 
an  European  outline  of  features,  signally  worthy  the  notice  of  the 
inquiring  world.  The  head  of  this  chief  was  most  curiously 
ornamented,  and  his  neck  bore  a  profusion  of  wampum  strings. 

Meach-o-shin-gaw  (the  little  white  bear,  Fig.  134).  Chesh-oo- 
hong-ha  (the  man  of  good  sense,  Fig.  135),  and  Wa-hon-ga-shee 
(no  fool,  Fig.  136),  are  portraits  of  distinguished  Konzas,  and  all 


86 


13  3  13  4 


G  Gal! i 


27 


furnish  striking  instances  of  the  bold  and  Eoman  outline  that  I 
have  just  spoken  of. 

The  custom  of  shaving  the  head,  and  ornamenting  it  with  the 
crest  of  deer’s  hair,  belongs  to  this  tribe ;  and  also  to  the  Osages, 
the  Pawnees,  the  Sacks,  and  Foxes,  and  Iowavs,  and  to  no  other 
tribe  that  I  know  of ;  unless  it  be  in  some  few  instances,  where 
individuals  have  introduced  it  into  their  tribes,  merely  by  way  of 
imitation. 

With  these  tribes,  the  custom  is  one  uniformly  adhered  to  by 
every  man  in  the  nation ;  excepting  some  few  instances  along  the 
frontier,  where  efforts  are  made  to  imitate  white  men,  by  allowing 
the  hair  to  grow  out. 

In  Fig.  135,  is  a  fair  exhibition  of  this  very  curious  custom — the 
hair  being  cut  as  close  to  the  head  as  possible,  except  a  tuft  the  size 
of  the  palm  of  the  hand,  on  the  crown  of  the  head,  which  is  left  of 
two  inches  in  length ;  and  in  the  centre  of  which  is  fastened  a 
beautiful  crest  made  of  the  hair  of  the  deer’s  tail  (dyed  red)  and 
horsehair,  and  oftentimes  surmounted  with  the  war-eagle’s  quill. 
In  the  centre  of  the  patch  of  hair,  which  I  said  was  left  of  a  couple 
of  inches  in  length,  is  preserved  a  small  lock,  w'hich  is  never  cut,  but 
cultivated  to  the  greatest  length  possible,  and  uniformly  kept  in 
braid,  and  passed  through  a  piece  of  curiously  carved  bone ;  which 
lies  in  the  centre  of  the  crest,  and  spreads  it  out  to  its  uniform 
shape,  which  they  study  with  great  care  to  preserve.  Through  this 
little  braid,  and  outside  of  the  bone,  passes  a  small  wooden  or  bone 
key,  which  holds  the  crest  to  the  head.  This  little  braid  is  called 
in  these  tribes,  the  “scalp-lock,"  and  is  scrupulously  preserved  in 
this  way,  and  offered  to  their  enemy  if  they  can  get  it,  as  a  trophy ; 
which  it  seems  in  all  tribes  they  are  anxious  to  yield  to  their 
conquerors,  in  case  they  are  killed  in  battle ;  and  which  it  would  be 
considered  cowardly  and  disgraceful  for  a  warrior  to  shave  off, 
leaving  nothing  for  his  enemy  to  grasp  for,  when  he  falls  into  his 
hands  in  the  events  of  battle. 

Amongst  those  tribes  who  thus  shave  and  ornament  their  heads, 
the  crest  is  uniformly  blood-red ;  and  the  upper  part  of  the  head, 
and  generally  a  considerable  part  of  the  face,  as  red  as  they  can 
possibly  make  it  with  vermilion.  I  found  these  people  cutting  off 
the  hair  with  small  scissors,  which  they  purchase  of  the  Fur  Traders ; 
and  they  told  me  that  previous  to  getting  scissors,  they  cut  it  away 
with  their  knives;  and  before  they  got  knives,  they  were  in  the 
habit  of  burning  it  off  with  red-hot  stones,  which  was  a  very  slow 
and  painful  operation. 


28 


With  the  exception  of  these  few,  all  the  other  tribes  in  North 
America  cul  tivate  the  hair  to  the  greatest  length  they  possibly  can ; 
preserving  it  to  flow  over  their  shoulders  and  backs  in  great  profusion, 
and  quite  unwilling  to  spare  the  smallest  lock  of  it  for  any  con¬ 
sideration. 

The  Pawnees  are  a  very  powerful  and  warlike  nation,  living  on 
the  river  Platte,  about  one  hundred  miles  from  its  junction  with  the 
Missouri;  laying  claim  to,  and  exercising  sway  over,  the  whole 
country,  from  its  mouth  to  the  base  of  the  Eocky  Mountains. 

The  present  number  of  this  tribe  is  ten  or  twelve  thousand ;  about 
one  half  the  number  they  had  in  1832,  when  that  most  appalling 
disease,  the  small-pox,  was  accidentally  introduced  amongst  them  by 
the  Fur  Traders,  and  whiskey  sellers ;  when  ten  thousand  (or  more) 
of  them  perished  in  the  course  of  a  few  months. 

The  Omahas,  of  fifteen  hundred ;  the  Ottoes  of  six  hundred ;  and 
Missouries  of  four  hundred,  who  are  now  living  under  the  protection 
and  surveillance  of  the  Pawnees,  and  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of 
them,  were  all  powerful  tribes,  but  so  reduced  by  this  frightful 
disease,  and  at  the  same  time,  that  they  were  unable  longer  to  stand 
against  so  formidable  enemies  as  they  had  around  them,  in  the  Sioux, 
Pawnees,  Sacs,  and  Foxes,  and  at  last  merged  into  the  Pawnee  tribe, 
under  whose  wing  and  protection  they  now  live. 

The  period  of  this  awful  calamity  in  these  regions,  was  one  that 
will  be  long  felt,  and  long  preserved  in  the  traditions  of  these  people. 
The  great  tribe  of  the  Sioux,  of  whom  I  have  heretofore  spoken, 
suffered  severely  with  the  same  disease ;  as  well  as  the  Osages  and 
Ivonzas ;  and  particularly  the  unfortunate  Puneahs,  who  were  almost 
extinguished  by  it. 

The  destructive  ravages  of  this  most  fatal  disease  amongst  these 
poor  people,  who  know  of  no  specific  for  it,  is  beyond  the  knowledge, 
and  almost  beyond  the  belief,  of  the  civilised  world.  Terror  and 
dismay  are  carried  with  it ;  and  awful  despair,  in  the  midst  of  which 
they  plunge  into  the  river,  when  in  the  highest  state  of  fever,  and 
die  in  a  moment ;  or  dash  themselves  from  precipices ;  or  plunge 
their  knives  to  their  hearts,  to  rid  themselves  from  the  pangs  of 
slow  and  disgusting  death. 

Amongst  the  formidable  tribe  of  Pawnees,  the  Fur  Traders  are 
yet  doing  some  business;  but,  from  what  I  can  learn,  the  Indians 
are  dealing  with  some  considerable  distrust,  with  a  people  who 
introduced  so  fatal  a  calamity  amongst  them,  to  which  one  half  of 
their  tribe  have  fallen  victims.  The  Traders  made  their  richest 
harvest  amongst  these  people,  before  this  disease  broke  out ;  and 


29 


since  it  subsided,  quite  a  number  of  their  lives  have  paid  the  forfeit, 
according  to  the  Indian  laws  of  retribution.* 

The  Pawnees  have  ever  been  looked  upon,  as  a  very  warlike  and 
hostile  tribe;  and  unusually  so,  since  the  calamity  which  I  have 
mentioned. 

Major  Dougherty,  of  whom  I  have  heretofore  spoken,  has  been 
for  several  years  their  agent ;  and  hy  his  unremitted  endeavours,  with 
an  unequalled  familiarity  with  the  Indian  character,  and  unyielding 
integrity  of  purpose,  has  successfully  restored  and  established,  a 
system  of  good  feeling  and  respect  between  them  and  the  “pale 
faces,”  upon  whom  they  looked,  naturally  and  experimentally,  as 
their  destructive  enemies. 

Of  this  stern  and  uncompromising  friend  of  the  red  man,  and 
of  justice,  who  has  taken  them  close  to  his  heart,  and  familiarised 
himself  with  their  faults  and  their  griefs,  I  take  great  pleasure  in 
recording  here  for  the  perusal  of  the  world,  the  following  extract 
from  one  of  his  true  and  independent  Eeports,  to  the  Secretary  of 
War ;  which  sheds  honour  on  his  name,  and  deserves  a  more  public 
place  than  the  mere  official  archives  of  a  Government  record. 

“  In  comparing  this  report  with  those  of  the  years  preceding, 
you  will  find  there  has  been  little  improvement  on  the  part  of  the 
Indians,  either  in  literary  acquirements  or  in  agricultural  knowledge. 

“  It  is  my  decided  opinion,  that,  so  long  as  the  Pur  Traders  and 

*  Since  the  above  was  written,  I  have  had  the  very  great  pleasure  of  reading  the 
notes  of  the  Honourable  Charles  A.  Murray  (who  was  for  several  months  a  guest 
amongst  the  Pawnees),  and  also  of  being  several  times  a  fellow-traveller  with  him 
in  America ;  and  at  last  a  debtor  to  him  for  his  signal  kindness  and  friendship  in 
London.  Mr  Murray’s  account  of  the  Pawnees,  as  far  as  he  saw  them,  is  without 
doubt  drawn  with  great  fidelity,  and  he  makes  them  out  a  pretty  bad  set  of  fellows. 
As  I  have  before  mentioned,  there  is  probably  not  another  tribe  on  the  Continent, 
that  has  been  more  abused  and  incensed  by  the  system  of  trade,  and  money-making, 
than  the  Pawnees  ;  and  the  Honourable  Mr  Murray,  with  his  companion,  made  his 
way  boldly  into  the  heart  of  their  country,  without  guide  or  interpreter,  and  I 
consider  at  great  hazard  to  his  life  r  and,  from  all  the  circumstances,  I  have  been 
ready  to  congratulate  him  on  getting  out  of  their  country  as  well  as  he  did. 

I  mentioned  in  a  former  page,  the  awful  destruction  of  this  tribe  by  the  small¬ 
pox;  a  few  years  previous  to  which,  some  one  of  the  Fur  Traders  visited  a  threat 
upon  these  people,  that  if  they  did  not  comply  with  some  condition,  “  he  would  let 
the  small-pox  out  of  a  bottle  and  destroy  the  whole  of  them.”  The  pestilence  has 
since  been  introduced  accidentally  amongst  them  by  the  Traders  ;  and  the  standing- 
tradition  of  the  tribe  now  is,  that  “the  Traders  opened  a  bottle  and  let  it  out  to 
destroy  them.”  Under  such  circumstances,  from  amongst  a  people  who  have  been 
impoverished  by  the  system  of  trade,  without  any  body  to  protect  him,  I  cannot 
but  congratulate  my  Honourable  friend  for  his  peaceable  retreat,  where  others 
before  him  have  been  less  fortunate ;  and  regret  at  the  same  time,  that  he  could 
not  have  been  my  companion  to  some  others  of  the  remote  tribes. 


30 


trappers  are  permitted  to  reside  among  the  Indians,  all  the  efforts 
of  the  Government  to  better  their  condition  will  be  fruitless  ;  or,  in  a 
great  measure  checked  by  the  strong  influence  of  those  men  over  the 
various  tribes. 

“Every  exertion  of  the  agents  (and  other  persons,  intended  to 
carry  into  effect  the  views  of  the  Government,  and  humane  societies), 
are  in  such  direct  opposition  to  the  Trader  and  his  interest,  that  the 
agent  finds  himself  continually  contending  with,  and  placed  in  direct 
and  immediate  contrariety  of  interest  to  the  Fur  Traders  or  grossly 
neglecting  his  duty  by  overlooking  acts  of  impropriety;  and  it  is 
a  curious  and  melancholy  fact,  that  while  the  General  Government  is 
using  every  means  and  expense  to  promote  the  advancement  of  those 
aboriginal  people,  it  is  at  the  same  time  suffering  the  Traders  to 
oppose  and  defeat  the  very  objects  of  its  intentions,  So  long  as  the 
Traders  and  trappers  are  permitted  in  the  Indian  country,  the  intro¬ 
duction  of  spirituous  liquors  will  be  inevitable,  under  any  penalty 
the  law  may  require ;  and  .until  its  prohibition  is  certain  and 
effectual,  every  effort  of  Government,  through  the  most  faithful  and 
indefatigable  agents,  will  be  useless.  It  would  be,  in  my  humble 
opinion,  better  to  give  up  everything  to  the  Traders,  and  let  them 
have  the  sole  and  entire  control  of  the  Indians,  than  permit  them 
to  contend  at  every  point,  with  the  views  of  the  Government ;  and 
that  contention  made  manifest,  even  to  the  most  ignorant  Indian. 

“  While  the  agent  is  advising  the  Indians  to  give  up  the  chase 
and  settle  themselves,  with  a  view  to  agricultural  pursuits,  the 
Traders  are  urging  them  on  in  search  of  skins. 

“  Far  be  it  from  me  to  be  influenced  or  guided  by  improper  or 
personal  feeling,  in  the  execution  of  my  duty ;  but,  sir,  I  submit  my 
opinion  to  a  candid  world,  in  relation  to  the  subject,  and  feel  fully 
convinced  you  will  be  able  to  see  at  once  the  course  which  will  ever 
place  the  Indian  Trader,  and  the  present  policy  of  Government,  in 
relation  to  the  Indians,  at  eternal  war. 

“  The  missionaries  sent  amongst  the  several  tribes  are,  no  doubt* 
sincere  in  their  intentions.  I  believe  them  to  be  so,  from  what  I  have 
seen ;  but,  unfortunately,  they  commence  their  labours  where  they 
should  end  them.  They  should  teach  the  Indians  to  work,  by  estab¬ 
lishing  schools  of  that  description  among  them ;  induce  them  to  live 
at  home,  abandon  their  restless  and  unsettled  life,  and  live  inde¬ 
pendent  of  the  chase.  After  they  are  taught  this,  their  intellectual 
faculties  would  be  more  susceptible  of  improvement  of  a  moral  and 
religious  nature ;  and  their  steps  towards  civilisation  would  become 
less  difficult.” 


co 


J 


O') 


tfl  Ci/T 


§ 


31 


The  Pawnees  are  divided  into  four  bands,  or  families — designated 
by  the  names  of  Grand  Pawnees — Tappage  Pawnees — Bepublican 
Pawnees,  and  Wolf  Pawnees. 

Each  of  these  bands  has  a  chief  at  its  head ;  which  chiefs,  with  all 
the  nation,  acknowledge  a  superior  chief  at  whose  voice  they  all  move. 

At  the  head  of  the  Grand  Pawnees  is  Shon-ka-ki-he-ga  (the  horse 
chief,  Fig.  138) ;  and  by  the  side  of  him,  Haio-che-ke-sug-ga  (he  who 
kills  the  Osages,  Fig.  139),  the  aged  chief  of  the  Missouries,  of  whom 
I  have  spoken,  and  shall  yet  say  more. 

La-doo-ke-a  (the  buffalo  bull,  Fig.  140),  with  his  medicine  or  totem 
(the  head  of  a  buffalo)  painted  on  his  breast  and  his  face,  with  bow  and 
arrows  in  his  hands,  is  a  warrior  of  great  distinction  in  the  same  band. 

Le-shaw-loo-lah-le-hoo  (the  big  elk,  Fig.  141),  chief  of  the  Wolf 
Pawnees,  is  another  of  the  most  distinguished  of  this  tribe. 

In  addition  to  the  above,  I  have  also  painted  of  this  tribe,  for  my 
Museum,  Ah-shaw-wah-rooks-te  (the  medicine  horse) ;  La-kee-too-wi- 
ra-sha  (the  little  chief) ;  Loo-ra-we-re-coo  (the  bird  that  goes  to  war) ; 
Ah-sha-la-coots-a  (mole  in  the  forehead) ;  La-shaiv-le-staw-hix  (the  man 
•chief) ;  Te-ah-ke-ra-le-re-coo  (the  Chayenne) ;  Lo-loch-to-hoo-la  (the  big 
chief) ;  La-wah-ee-coots-la-shaw-no  (the  brave  chief) ;  and  L’har-e-tar- 
rushe  (the  ill-natured  man). 

The  Pawnees  live  in  four  villages,  some  few  miles  apart,  on  the 
banks  of  the  Platte  river,  having  their  allies  the  Omahas  and  Ottoes 
so  near  to  them  as  easily  to  act  in  concert,  in  case  of  invasion  from 
nny  other  tribe ;  and  from  the  fact  that  half  or  more  of  them  are  sup¬ 
plied  with  guns  and  ammunition,  they  are  able  to  withstand  the 
assaults  of  any  tribe  that  may  come  upon  them. 

Of  the  Ottoes,  No-way -ke-sug-ga  (he  who  strikes  two  at  once,  Fig. 
143) ;  and  Raw-no-way -woh-Jcr ah  (the  loose  pipe-stem,  Fig.  144),  I 
have  painted  at  full  length,  in  beautiful  costumes — the  first  with  a 
necklace  of  grizzly  bear’s  claws,  and  his  dress  profusely  fringed  with 
scalp-locks ;  the  second,  in  a  tunic  made  of  the  entire  skin  of  a  grizzly 
bear,  with  a  head-dress  of  the  war-eagle’s  quills. 

Besides  these,  I  painted  also,  Wah-ro-nee-sali  (the  surrounder); 
Non-jc-ning-a  (no  heart) ;  and  We-ke-ru-law  (he  who  exchanges). 

Of  the  Omahas,  Ki-ho-ga-waw-shu-shee  (the  brave  chief,  Fig.  145), 
is  the  head  chief ;  and  next  to  him  in  standing  and  reputation,  is  Om- 
joa-ton-ga  (the  big  elk,  Fig.  146),  with  his  tomahawk  in  his  hand,  and 
his  face  painted  black,  for  war. 

Besides  these,  I  painted  Man-sha-gui-ta  (the  little  soldier),  a  brave; 
Shaw-da-mon-nee  (there  he  goes) ;  and  Nom-la-mon-nee  (the  double 
walker). 


32 


Of  these  wild  tribes  I  have  much  more  in  store  to  say  in  future, 
and  shall  certainly  make  another  budget  of  Letters  from  this  place, 
or  from  other  regions  from  whence  I  may  wish  to  write,  and  possibly, 
lack  material !  All  of  these  tribes,  as  well  as  the  numerous  semi- 
civilised  remnants  of  tribes,  that  have  been  thrown  out  from  the 
borders  of  our  settlements,  have  missionary  establishments  and 
schools,  as  well  as  agricultural  efforts  amongst  them ;  and  will  fur¬ 
nish  valuable  evidence  as  to  the  success  that  those  philanthropic 
and  benevolent  exertions  have  met  with,  contending  (as  they  have 
had  to  do)  with  the  contaminating  influences  of  whiskey-sellers,  and 
other  mercenary  men,  catering  for  their  purses  and  their  unholy 
appetites. 


LETTER — No.  35 


ST  LOUIS,  MISSOURI 

My  little  bark  has  been  soaked  in  the  water  again,  and  Ba’tiste  and 
Bogard  have  paddled,  and  I  have  steered  and  dodged  our  little  craft 
amongst  the  snags  and  sawyers,  until  at  last  we  landed  the  humble 
little  thing  amongst  the  huge  steamers  and  floating  palaces  at  the 
wharf  of  this  bustling  and  growing  city. 

And  first  of  all,  I  must  relate  the  fate  of  my  little  boat,  which 
had  borne  us  safe  over  two  thousand  miles  of  the  Missouri’s  turbid 
and  boiling  current,  with  no  fault,  excepting  two  or  three  instances, 
when  the  waves  became  too  saucy,  she,  like  the  best  of  boats  of  her 
size,  went  to  the  bottom,  and  left  us  soused,  to  paddle  our  way  to 
the  shore,  and  drag  out  our  things  and  dry  them  in  the  sun. 

When  we  landed  at  the  wharf,  my  luggage  was  all  taken  out,  and 
removed  to  my  hotel ;  and  when  I  returned  a  few  hours  afterwards, 
to  look  for  my  little  boat,  to  which  I  had  contracted  a  peculiar  attach¬ 
ment  (although  I  had  left  it  in  special  charge  of  a  person  at  work  on 
the  wharf) ;  some  mystery  or  medicine  operation  had  relieved  me  from 
any  further  anxiety  or  trouble  about  it — it  had  gone  and  never  re¬ 
turned,  although  it  had  safely  passed  the  countries  of  mysteries,  and 
had  often  lain  weeks  and  months  at  the  villages  of  red  men,  with  no 
laws  to  guard  it ;  and  where  it  had  also  often  been  taken  out  of  the 
water  by  mystery-men,  and  carried  up  the  bank,  and  turned  against 
my  wigwam ;  and  by  them  again  safely  carried  to  the  river’s  edge, 
and  put  afloat  upon  the  water,  when  I  was  ready  to  take  a  seat  in  it. 

St  Louis,  which  is  1400  miles  west  of  New  York,  is  a  flourishing 
town,  of  15,000  inhabitants,  and  destined  to  be  the  great  emporium 
of  the  West — the  greatest  inland  town  in  America.  Its  location  is 
on  the  western  bank  of  the  Mississippi  river,  twenty  miles  below 
the  mouth  of  the  Missouri,  and  1400  above  the  entrance  of  the 
Mississippi  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

This  is  the  great  depot  of  all  the  Eur  Trading  Companies  to  the 
Upper  Missouri  and  Rocky  Mountains,  and  their  starting-place ;  and 
also  for  the  Santa  Fe,  and  other  Trading  Companies,  who  reach  the 
Mexican  borders  overland,  to  trade  for  silver  bullion,  from  the  exten¬ 
sive  mines  of  that  rich  country. 

VOL.  II.  33  C 


34 


I  have  also  made  it  my  starting-point,  and  place  of  deposit,  to 
which  I  send  from  different  quarters,  my  packages  of  paintings  and 
Indian  articles,  minerals,  fossils,  etc.,  as  I  collect  them  in  various 
regions,  here  to  be  stored  till  my  return ;  and  where  on  my  last  return, 
if  I  ever  make  it,  I  shall  hustle  them  altogether,  and  remove  them  to 
the  East. 

To  this  place  I  had  transmitted  by  steamer  and  other  conveyance, 
about  twenty  boxes  and  packages  at  different  times,  as  my  note-book 
showed ;  and  I  have,  on  looking  them  up  and  enumerating  them,  been 
lucky  enough  to  recover  and  recognise  about  fifteen  of  the  twenty, 
which  is  a  pretty  fair  proportion  for  this  wild  and  desperate  country, 
and  the  very  conscientious  hands  they  often  are  doomed  to  pass 
through. 

Ba’tiste  and  Bogard  (poor  fellows)  I  found,  after  remaining  here 
a  few  days,  had  been  about  as  unceremoniously  snatched  off,  as  my 
little  canoe ;  and  Bogard,  in  particular,  as  he  had  made  show  of  a  few 
hundred  dollars,  which  he  had  saved  of  his  hard  earnings  in  the  Bocky 
Mountains. 

He  came  down  with  a  liberal  heart,  which  he  had  learned  in  an 
Indian  life  of  ten  years,  with  a  strong  taste,  which  he  had  acquired  for 
whiskey,  in  a  country  where  it  was  sold  for  twenty  dollars  per  gallon ; 
and  with  an  independent  feeling,  which  illy  harmonised  with  rules 
and  regulations  of  a  country  of  laws ;  and  the  consequence  soon  was, 
that  by  the  “Hawk  and  Buzzard”  system,  and  Bocky  Mountain 
liberality,  and  Bocky  Mountain  prodigality,  the  poor  fellow  was  soon 
“jugged  up;”  where  he  could  deliberately  dream  of  beavers,  and  the 
free  and  cooling  breezes  of  the  mountain  air,  without  the  pleasure  of 
setting  his  trap  for  the  one,  or  even  indulging  the  hope  of  ever  again 
having  the  pleasure  of  breathing  the  other. 

I  had  imbibed  rather  less  of  these  delightful  passions  in  the  Indian 
country,  and  consequently  indulged  less  in  them  when  I  came  back ; 
and  of  course,  was  rather  more  fortunate  than  poor  Bogard,  whose 
feelings  I  soothed  as  far  as  it  lay  in  my  power,  and  prepared  to  “  lay 
my  course,”  to  the  South,  with  colours  and  canvas  in  readiness  for 
another  campaign. 

In  my  sojourn  in  St  Louis,  amongst  many  other  kind  and  con¬ 
genial  friends  whom  I  met,  I  have  had  daily  interviews  with  the 
venerable  Governor  Clarke,  whose  whitened  locks  are  still  shaken  in 
roars  of  laughter,  and  good  jests  among  the  numerous  citizens,  who 
all  love  him,  and  continually  rally  around  him  in  his  hospitable 
mansion. 

Governor  Clarke,  with  Captain  Lewis,  were  the  first  explorers  across 


35 


the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  down  the  Columbia  to  the  Pacific  Ocean 
thirty-two  years  ago ;  whose  tour  has  been  published  in  a  very  inter¬ 
esting  work,  which  has  long  been  before  the  world.  My  works  and 
my  design  have  been  warmly  approved  and  applauded  by  this  excel¬ 
lent  patriarch  of  the  Western  World ;  and  kindly  recommended  by 
him  in  such  ways  as  have  been  of  great  service  to  me.  Governor 
Clarke  is  now  Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs  for  all  the  Western 
and  North-Western  regions ;  and  surely,  their  interests  could  never 
have  been  intrusted  to  better  or  abler  hands.* 

So  long  have  I  been  recruiting,  and  enjoying  the  society  of 
friends  in  this  town,  that  the  navigation  of  the  river  has  suddenly 
closed,  being  entirely  frozen  over ;  and  the  earth’s  surface  covered 
with  eighteen  inches  of  drifting  snow,  which  has  driven  me  to  the 
only  means,  and  I  start  in  a  day  or  two,  with  a  tough  little  pony 
and  a  packhorse,  to  trudge  through  the  snow-drifts  from  this  to 
New  Madrid,  and  perhaps  further;  a  distance  of  three  or  four 
hundred  miles  to  the  South — where  I  must  venture  to  meet  a 
warmer  climate — the  river  open,  and  steamers  running,  to  waft  me 
to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Of  the  fate  or  success  that  waits  me,  or 
of  the  incidents  of  that  travel,  as  they  have  not  transpired,  I  can 
as  yet  say  nothing;  and  I  close  my  book  for  further  time  and 
future  entries. 

*  Some  year  or  two  after  writing  the  above,  I  saw  the  announcement  of  the  death 
of  this  veteran,  whose  life  has  been  one  of  faithful  service  to  his  country,  and,  at  the 
same  time,  of  strictest  fidelity  as  the  guardian  and  friend  of  the  red  men. 


LETTER— No.  36 


PENSACOLA,  WEST  FLORIDA 

From  my  long  silence  of  late,  you  will  no  doubt  have  deemed  me 
out  of  the  civil  and  perhaps  out  of  the  whole  world. 

I  have,  to  be  sure,  been  a  great  deal  of  the  time  out  of  the  limits 
of  one  and,  at  times,  nearly  out  of  the  other.  Yet  I  am  living,  and 
hold  in  my  possession  a  number  of  epistles  which  passing  events 
had  dictated,  but  which  I  neglected  to  transmit  at  the  proper  season. 
In  my  headlong  transit  through  the  Southern  tribes  of  Indians,  I 
have  "popped  out’’  of  the  woods  upon  this  glowing  land,  and  I 
cannot  forego  the  pleasure  of  letting  you  into  a  few  of  the  secrets 
of  this  delightful  place. 

“  Flos—floris,”  etc.,  everybody  knows  the  meaning  of;  and  Florida, 
in  Spanish,  is  a  country  of  flowers. — Perdido  is  perdition,  and  Rio 
Perdido,  River  of  Perdition.  Looking  down  its  perpendicular  banks 
into  its  black  water,  its  depth  would  seem  to  be  endless,  and  the 
doom  of  the  unwary  to  be  gloomy  in  the  extreme.  Step  not 
accidentally  or  wilfully  over  its  fatal  brink,  and  Nature’s  opposite 
extreme  is  spread  about  you.  You  are  literally  in  the  land  of  the 
“cypress  and  myrtle” — where  the  ever-green  live  oak  and  lofty 
magnolia  dress  the  forest  in  a  perpetual  mantle  of  green. 

The  sudden  transition  from  the  ice-bound  regions  of  the  North 
to  this  mild  climate,  in  the  midst  of  winter,  is  one  of  peculiar 
pleasure.  At  a  half-way  of  the  distance,  one’s  cloak  is  thrown 
aside;  and  arrived  on  the  ever-verdant  borders  of  Florida,  the 
bosom  is  opened  and  bared  to  the  soft  breeze  from  the  ocean’s  wave, 
and  the  congenial  warmth  of  a  summer’s  sun. 

Such  is  the  face  of  Nature  here  in  the  rude  month  of  February ; 
green  peas  are  served  on  the  table — other  garden  vegetables  in  great 
perfection,  and  garden  flowers,  as  well  as  wild,  giving  their  full  and 
sweetest  perfume  to  the  winds. 

I  looked  into  the  deep  and  bottomless  Perdido,  and  beheld  about 
it  the  thousand  charms  which  Nature  has  spread  to  allure  the 
unwary  traveller  to  its  brink.  ’Twas  not  enough  to  entangle  him 
in  a  web  of  sweets  upon  its  borders,  but  Nature  seems  to  have  used 
an  art  to  draw  him  to  its  bottom,  by  the  voluptuous  buds  which 

36 


91 


147 


37 


blossom  under  it  black  waters,  and  whose  vivid  colours  are  softened 
and  enriched  the  deeper  they  are  seen  below  its  surface.  The 
sweetest  of  wild  flowers  enamel  the  shores  and  spangle  the  dark 
green  tapestry  which  hangs  over  its  bosom — the  stately  magnolia 
towers  fearlessly  over  its  black  waters,  and  sheds  (with  the  myrtle 
and  jessamine)  the  richest  perfume  over  this  chilling  pool  of  death. 

How  exquisitely  pure  and  sweet  are  the  delicate  tendrils  which 
Nature  has  hung  over  these  scenes  of  melancholy  and  gloom  !  and 
how  strong,  also,  has  she  fixed  in  man’s  breast  the  passion  to  possess 
and  enjoy  them !  I  could  have  hung  by  the  tree  tops  over  that 
fatal  stream,  or  blindly  staggered  over  its  thorny  brink  to  have 
culled  the  sweets  which  are  found  only  in  its  bosom ;  but  the 
poisonous  fang,  I  was  told,  was  continually  aimed  at  my  heel,  and 
I  left  the  sweetened  atmosphere  of  its  dark  and  gloomy,  yet  enamelled 
shores. 

Florida  is,  in  a  great  degree,  a  dark  and  sterile  wilderness,  yet 
with  spots  of  beauty  and  of  loveliness,  with  charms  that  cannot  be 
forgotten.  Her  swamps  and  everglades,  the  dens  of  alligators,  and 
lurking  places  of  the  desperate  savage,  gloom  the  thoughts  of  the 
wary  traveller,  whose  mind  is  cheered  and  lit  to  admiration,  when 
in  the  solitary  pine  woods,  where  he  hears  nought  but  the  echoing 
notes  of  the  sand-hill  cranes,  or  the  howling  wolf,  he  suddenly  breaks 
out  into  the  open  savannahs,  teeming  with  their  myriads  of  wild 
flowers,  and  palmettos  (Fig.  147) ;  or  where  the  winding  path  through 
which  he  is  wending  his  lonely  way,  suddenly  brings  him  out  upon 
the  beach,  where  the  rolling  sea  has  thrown  up  her  thousands  of 
hills  and  mounds  of  sand  as  white  as  the  drifted  snow,  over  which 
her  green  waves  are  lashing,  and  sliding  back  again  to  her  deep 
green  and  agitated  bosom  (Fig.  148).  This  sketch  was  made  on 
Santa  Rosa  Island,  within  a  few  miles  of  Pensacola,  of  a  favourite 
spot  for  tea  (and  other  convivial)  parties,  which  are  often  held  there. 
The  hills  of  sand  are  ns  purely  white  as  snow,  and  fifty  or  sixty  feet 
in  height,  and  supporting  on  their  tops,  and  in  their  sides,  clusters 
of  magnolia  bushes — of  myrtle — of  palmetto  and  heather,  all  of  which 
are  evergreens,  forming  the  most  vivid  contrast  with  the  snow- 
white  sand  in  which  they  are  growing.  On  the  beach  a  family  of 
Seminole  Indians  are  encamped,  catching  and  drying  red  fish,  their 
chief  article  of  food. 

I  have  traversed  the  snow-white  shores  of  Pensacola’s  beautiful 
bay,  and  I  said  to  myself,  “  Is  it  possible  that  Nature  has  done  so 
much  in  vain — or  will  the  wisdom  of  man  lead  him  to  add  to  such 
works  the  embellishments  of  art,  and  thus  convert  to  his  own  use 


38 


and  enjoyment  the  greatest  luxuries  of  life?”  As  a  travelling 
stranger  through  the  place,  I  said  “yes:  it  must  be  so.”  Nature 
has  here  formed  the  finest  harbour  in  the  world ;  and  the  dashing 
waves  of  the  ocean  have  thrown  around  its  shores  the  purest  barriers 
of  sand,  as  white  as  the  drifted  snow.  Unlike  all  other  Southern 
ports,  it  is  surrounded  by  living  fountains  of  the  purest  water,  and 
its  shores  continually  fanned  by  the  refreshing  breathings  of  the 
sea.  To  a  Northern  man,  the  winters  in  this  place  appear  like  a 
continual  spring-time ;  and  the  intensity  of  a  summer’s  sun  is  cooled 
into  comfort  and  luxury  by  the  ever-cheering  sea-breeze. 

This  is  the  only  place  I  have  found  in  the  Southern  country 
to  which  Northern  people  can  repair  with  safety  in  the  summer 
season ;  and  I  know  not  of  a  place  in  the  world  where  they  can  gO' 
with  better  guarantees  of  good  health,  and  a  reasonable  share  of 
the  luxuries  of  life.  The  town  of  Pensacola  is  beautifully  situated 
on  the  shore  of  the  bay,  and  contains  at  present  about  fifteen 
hundred  inhabitants,  most  of  them  Spanish  Creoles.  They  live  an 
easy  and  idle  life,  without  any  energy  further  than  for  the  mere 
means  of  living.  The  bay  abounds  in  the  greatest  variety  of  fish, 
which  are  easily  taken,  and  the  finest  quality  of  oysters  are  found  in 
profusion,  even  alongside  of  the  wharves. 

Government  having  fixed  upon  this  harbour  as  the  great  naval 
depot  for  all  the  Southern  coast,  the  consequence  will  be  that  a 
vast  sum  of  public  money  will  always  be  put  into  circulation  in 
this  place ;  and  the  officers  of  the  navy,  together  with  the  officers 
of  the  army,  stationed  in  the  three  forts  built  and  now  building  at 
this  place,  will  constitute  the  most  polished  and  desirable  society 
in  our  country. 

What  Pensacola  has  been  or  is,  in  a  commercial  point  of  view, 
little  can  be  said ;  but  what  it  can  be,  and  most  certainly  will  be, 
in  a  few  years,  the  most  sanguine  can  hardly  predict.  I  would 
unhesitatingly  recommend  this  to  the  enterprising  capitalists  of  the 
North,  as  a  place  where  they  can  live,  and  where  (if  nature  has 
been  kind,  as  experience  has  taught  us)  they  will  flourish.  A  few 
such  men  have  taken  their  stand  here  within  a  few  months  past ; 
and,  as  a  first  step  towards  their  aggrandisement,  a  plan  of  a  rail¬ 
road  has  been  projected,  from  Pensacola  to  Columbus,  in  Georgia ; 
which  needs  only  to  be  completed,  to  place  Pensacola  at  once  before 
any  other  town  on  the  Southern  coast,  excepting  New  Orleans.  Of 
the  feasibility  of  such  a  work,  there  is  not  the  slighest  doubt ;  and, 
from  the  opinions  advanced  by  Captain  Chase  and  Lieutenant 
Bowman,  two  of  the  most  distinguished  engineers  of  the  army,  it 


39 


would  seem  as  if  Nature  had  formed  a  level  nearly  the  whole  way, 
and  supplied  the  best  kind  of  timber  on  the  spot  for  its  erection. 
The  route  of  this  rail-road  would  be  through  or  near  the  principal 
cotton-growing  part  of  Alabama,  and  the  quantity  of  produce  from 
that  state,  as  well  as  from  a  great  part  of  the  State  of  Georgia, 
which  would  seek  this  market,  would  be  almost  incalculable.  Had 
this  road  been  in  operation  during  the  past  winter,  it  has  been 
ascertained  by  a  simple  calculation,  that  the  cotton-growers  of 
Alabama,  might  have  saved  2,000,000  of  dollars  on  their  crop ;  by 
being  enabled  to  have  got  it  early  into  market,  and  received  the 
first  price  of  18f  cents,  instead  of  waiting  six  weeks  or  two 
months  for  a  rise  of  water,  enabling  them  to  get  it  to  Mobile — at 
which  time  it  had  fallen  to  nine  cents  per  pound. 

As  a  work  also  cf  national  utility,  it  would  rank  amongst  the 
most  important  in  our  country,  and  the  Government  might  afford 
to  appropriate  the  whole  sum  necessary  for  its  construction.  In  a 
period  of  war,  when  in  all  probability,  for  a  great  part  of  the  time, 
this  port  may  be  in  a  state  of  blockade,  such  a  communication  with 
the  interior  of  the  country,  would  be  of  incalculable  benefit  for  the 
transportation  of  men — of  produce  and  munitions  of  war. 

Of  the  few  remnants  of  Indians  remaining  in  this  part  of  the 
country,  I  have  little  to  say,  at  present,  that  could  interest  you.  The 
sum  total  that  can  be  learned  or  seen  of  them  (like  all  others  that 
are  half  civilised)  is,  that  they  are  to  be  pitied. 

The  direful  “  trump  of  war  ”  is  blowing  in  East  Florida,  where  I 
was  “  steering  my  course ;  ”  and  I  shall  in  a  few  days  turn  my  steps 
in  a  different  direction. 

Since  you  last  heard  from  me,  I  have  added  on  to  my  former 
Tour  “  down  the  river,”  the  remainder  of  the  Mississippi  (or  rather 
Missouri),  from  St  Louis  to  New  Orleans ;  and  I  find  that,  from  its 
source  to  the  Balize,  the  distance  is  4500  miles  only  !  I  shall  be  on 
the  wing  again  in  a  few  days,  for  a  shake  of  the  hand  with  the 
Camanchees,  Osages,  Pawnees,  Kioways,  Arapahoes,  etc. — some  hints 
of  whom  I  shall  certainly  give  you  from  their  different  localities, 
provided  I  can  keep  the  hair  on  my  head. 

This  Tour  will  lead  me  up  the  Arkansas  to  its  source,  and  into 
the  Pocky  Mountains,  under  the  protection  of  the  United  States 
dragoons.  You  will  begin  to  think  ere  long,  that  I  shall  acquaint 
myself  pretty  well  with  the  manners  and  customs  of  our  country — 
at  least  with  the  outlandish  part  of  it. 

I  shall  hail  the  day  with  pleasure,  when  I  can  again  reach  the 
free  land  of  the  lawless  savage;  for  far  more  agreeable  to  my 


40 

ear  is  the  Indian  yell  and  war-whoop,  than  the  civilised  groans 
and  murmurs  about  “pressure”  “  deposits “  hanks”  “  boundary- 
questions etc. ;  and  I  vanish  from  the  country  with  the  sincere 
hope  that  these  tedious  words  may  become  obsolete  before  I  return. 
Adieu. 


LETTER— No.  37 

FORT  GIBSON.  ARKANSAS  TERRITORY 

Since  the  date  of  my  last  Letter  at  Pensacola,  in  Florida,  I  travelled 
to  New  Orleans,  and  from  thence  up  the  Mississippi  several  hundred 
miles  to  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas;  and  up  the  Arkansas,  700  miles 
to  this  place.  We  wended  our  way  up,  between  the  pictured  shores 
of  this  beautiful  river,  on  the  steamer  Arkansas,  until  within  200 
miles  of  this  post ;  when  we  got  aground,  and  the  water  falling  fast, 
left  the  steamer  nearly  on  dry  ground.  Hunting  and  fishing,  and  whist 
and  sleeping,  and  eating,  were  our  principal  amusements  to  deceive 
away  the  time,  whilst  we  were  waiting  for  the  water  to  rise.  Lieu¬ 
tenant  Seaton,  of  the  army,  was  one  of  my  companions  in  misery, 
whilst  we  lay  two  weeks  or  more  without  prospect  of  further  pro¬ 
gress — the  poor  fellow  on  his  way  to  his  post  to  join  his  regiment, 
had  left  his  trunk,  unfortunately,  with  all  his  clothes  in  it ;  and  by 
hunting  and  fishing  in  shirts  that  I  loaned  him,  or  from  other  causes, 
we  became  yoked  in  amusements,  in  catering  for  our  table — in  get¬ 
ting  fish  and  wild  fowl ;  and,  after  that,  as  the  “  last  kick  ”  for  amuse- 
and  pastime,  with  another  good  companion  by  the  name  of  Chadwick, 
we  clambered  up  and  over  the  rugged  mountains’  sides,  from  day  to 
day,  turning  stones  to  catch  centipedes  and  tarantulas,  of  which  poison¬ 
ous  reptiles  we  caged  a  number ;  and  on  the  boat  amused  ourselves 
by  betting  on  their  battles,  which  were  immediately  fought,  and  life 
almost  instantly  taken,  when  they  came  together.* 

In  this,  and  fifty  other  ways,  we  whiled  away  the  heavy  time : 
but  yet,  at  last  we  reached  our  destined  goal,  and  here  we  are  at 
present  fixed.  Fort  Gibson  is  the  extreme  south-western  outpost  on 
the  United  States  frontier;  beautifully  situated  on  the  banks  of  the 
river,  in  the  midst  of  an  extensive  and  lovely  prairie  ;  and  is  at  present 
occupied  by  the  7th  regiment  of  United  States  infantry,  heretofore 

*  Several  years  after  writing  the  above,  I  was  shocked  at  the  announcement  of 
the  death  of  this  amiable  and  honourable  young  man,  Lieutenant  Seaton,  who  fell  a 
victim  to  the  deadly  disease  of  that  country  ;  severing  another  of  the  many  fibres  of 
my  heart,  which  peculiar  circumstances  in  these  wild  regions,  had  woven,  but  to  be 
broken. 


41 


C 


42 


under  the  command  of  General  Arbuckle,  one  of  the  oldest  officers  on 
the  frontier,  and  the  original  builder  of  the  post. 

Being  soon  to  leave  this  little  civilised  world  for  a  campaign  in 
the  Indian  country,  I  take  this  opportunity  to  bequeath  a  few  words 
before  the  moment  of  departure.  Having  sometime  since  obtained 
permission  from  the  Secretary  of  War  to  accompany  the  regiment  of 
the  United  States  dragoons  in  their  summer  campaign,  I  reported 
myself  at  this  place  two  months  ago,  where  I  have  been  waiting  ever 
since  for  their  organisation. — After  the  many  difficulties  which  they 
have  had  to  encounter,  they  have  at  length  all  assembled — the  grassy 
plains  are  resounding  with  the  trampling  hoofs  of  the  prancing  war- 
horse — and  already  the  hills  are  echoing  back  the  notes  of  the  spirit- 
stirring  trumpets,  which  are  sounding  for  the  onset.  The  natives  are 
again  “  to  be  astonished,”  and  I  shall  probably  again  be  a  witness  to 
the  scene.  But  whether  the  approach  of  eight  hundred  mounted 
dragoons  amongst  the  Camanchees  and  Pawnees,  will  afford  me  a 
better  subject  for  a  picture  of  a  gaping  and  astounded  multitude,  than 
did  the  first  approach  of  our  steamboat  amongst  the  Mandans,  etc., 
is  a  question  yet  to  be  solved.  I  am  strongly  inclined  to  think  that 
the  scene  will  not  be  less  wild  and  spirited,  and  I  ardently  wish  it; 
for  I  have  become  so  much  Indian  of  late,  that  my  pencil  has  lost 
all  appetite  for  subjects  that  savour  of  tameness.  I  should  delight  in 
seeing  these  red  knights  of  the  lance  astonished,  for  it  is  then  that 
they  show  their  brightest  hues — and  I  care  not  how  badly  we  frighten 
them,  provided  we  hurt  them  not,  nor  frighten  them  out  of  sketching 
distance.  You  will  agree  with  me,  that  I  am  going  farther  to  get 
sitters,  than  any  of  my  fellow-artists  ever  did  ;  but  I  take  an  indescrib¬ 
able  pleasure  in  roaming  through  Nature’s  trackless  wilds,  and  select¬ 
ing  my  models,  where  I  am  free  and  unshackled  by  the  killing 
restraints  of  society ;  where  a  painter  must  modestly  sit  and  breathe 
away  in  agony  the  edge  and  soul  of  his  inspiration,  waiting  for  the 
sluggish  calls  of  the  civil.  Though  the  toil,  the  privations,  and  ex¬ 
pense  of  travelling  to  these  remote  parts  of  the  world  to  get  subjects 
for  my  pencil,  place  almost  insurmountable,  and  sometimes  painful 
obstacles  before  me,  yet  I  am  encouraged  by  the  continual  conviction 
that  I  am  practising  in  the  true  School  of  the  Arts  ;  and  that,  though  I 
should  get  as  poor  as  Lazarus,  I  should  deem  myself  rich  in  models 
and  studies  for  the  future  occupation  of  my  life.  Of  this  much  I 
am  certain — that  amongst  these  sons  of  the  forest,  where  are  con¬ 
tinually  repeated  the  feats  and  gambols  equal  to  the  Grecian  Games, 
I  have  learned  more  of  the  essential  parts  of  my  art  in  the  three  last 
years,  than  I  could  have  learned  in  New  York  in  a  lifetime. 


43 


The  landscape  scenes  of  these  wild  and  beautiful  regions,  are,  of 
themselves,  a  rich  reward  for  the  traveller  who  can  place  them  in  his 
portfolio :  and  being  myself  the  only  one  accompanying  the  dragoons 
for  scientific  purposes,  there  will  be  an  additional  pleasure  to  be  de¬ 
rived  from  those  pursuits.  The  regiment  of  eight  hundred  men,  with 
whom  I  am  to  travel,  will  be  an  effective  force,  and  a  perfect  protec¬ 
tion  against  any  attacks  that  will  ever  be  made  by  Indians.  It  is 
composed  principally  of  young  men  of  respectable  families,  who  would 
act,  on  all  occasions,  from  feelings  of  pride  and  honour,  in  addition  to 
those  of  the  common  soldier. 

The  day  before  yesterday  the  regiment  of  dragoons  and  the  7th 
regiment  of  infantry,  stationed  here,  were  reviewed  by  General  Leaven¬ 
worth,  who  has  lately  arrived  at  this  post,  superseding  Colonel  Arbuckle 
in  the  command. 

Both  regiments  were  drawn  up  in  battle  array,  in  fatigue  dress,  and 
passing  through  a  number  of  the  manoeuvres  of  battle,  of  charge  and 
repulse,  etc.,  presenting  a  novel  and  thrilling  scene  in  the  prairie,  to 
the  thousands  of  Indians  and  others  who  had  assembled  to  witness  the 
display.  The  proud  and  manly  deportment  of  these  young  men  remind 
one  forcibly  of  a  regiment  of  Independent  Volunteers,  and  the  horses 
have  a  most  beautiful  appearance  from  the  arrangement  of  colours. 
Each  company  of  horses  has  been  selected  of  one  colour  entire.  There 
is  a  company  of  bays,  a  company  of  blacks,  one  of  whites,  one  of  sorrels, 
one  of  greys,  one  of  cream  colour,  etc.,  etc.,  which  render  the  companies 
distinct,  and  the  effect  exceedingly  pleasing.  This  regiment  goes  out 
under  the  command  of  Colonel  Dodge,  and  from  his  well  tested  quali¬ 
fications,  and  from  the  beautiful  equipment  of  the  command,  there  can 
be  little  doubt  but  that  they  will  do  credit  to  themselves  and  an  honour 
to  their  country ;  so  far  as  honours  can  be  gained  and  laurels  can  be 
plucked  from  their  wild  stems  in  a  savage  country.  The  object  of  this 
summer’s  campaign  seems  to  be  to  cultivate  an  acquaintance  with  the 
Pawnees  and  Camanchees.  These  are  two  extensive  tribes  of  roaming 
Indians,  who,  from  their  extreme  ignorance  of  us,  have  not  yet  recog¬ 
nised  the  United  States  in  treaty,  and  have  struck  frequent  blows  on 
our  frontiers  and  plundered  our  traders  who  are  traversing  their 
country.  For  this  I  cannot  so  much  blame  them,  for  the  Spaniards 
are  gradually  advancing  upon  them  on  one  side,  and  the  Americans 
on  the  other,  and  fast  destroying  the  furs  and  game  of  their  country, 
which  God  gave  them  as  their  only  wealth  and  means  of  subsistence. 
This  movement  of  the  dragoons  seems  to  be  one  of  the  most  humane 
in  its  views,  and  I  heartily  hope  that  it  may  prove  so  in  the  event,  as 
well  for  our  own  sakes  as  for  that  of  the  Indian.  I  can  see  no  reason 


44 


•why  we  should  march  upon  them  with  an  invading  army  carrying  with 
it  the  spirit  of  chastisement.  The  object  of  Government  undoubtedly 
is  to  effect  a  friendly  meeting  with  them,  that  they  may  see  and  re¬ 
spect  us,  and  to  establish  something  like  a  system  of  mutual  rights 
with  them.  To  penetrate  their  country  with  the  other  view,  that  of 
chastising  them,  even  with  five  times  the  number  that  are  now  going, 
would  be  entirely  futile,  and  perhaps  disastrous  in  the  extreme.  It  is 
a  pretty  thing  (and  perhaps  an  easy  one,  in  the  estimation  of  the  world) 
for  an  army  of  mounted  men  to  be  gaily  prancing  over  the  boundless 
green  fields  of  the  West,  and  it  is  so  for  a  little  distance — but  it  would 
be  well  that  the  world  should  be  apprised  of  some  of  the  actual  diffi¬ 
culties  that  oppose  themselves  to  the  success  of  such  a  campaign,  that 
they  may  not  censure  too  severely,  in  case  this  command  should  fail 
to  accomplish  the  objects  for  which  they  were  organised. 

In  the  first  place,  from  the  great  difficulty  of  organising  and  equip¬ 
ping,  these  troops  are  starting  too  late  in  the  season  for  their  summer’s 
campaign,  by  two  months.  The  journey  which  they  have  to  perform 
is  a  very  long  one,  and  although  the  first  part  of  it  will  be  picturesque 
and  pleasing,  the  after  part  of  it  will  be  tiresome  and  fatiguing  in  the 
extreme.  As  they  advance  to  the  West,  the  grass  (and  consequently 
the  game)  will  be  gradually  diminishing,  and  water  in  many  parts  of 
the  country  not  to  be  found. 

As  the  troops  will  be  obliged  to  subsist  themselves  a  great  part 
of  the  way,  it  will  be  extremely  difficult  to  do  it  under  such  circum¬ 
stances,  and  at  the  same  time  hold  themselves  in  readiness,  with  half- 
famished  horses  and  men  nearly  exhausted,  to  contend  with  a 
numerous  enemy  who  are  at  home,  on  the  ground  on  which  they 
were  born,  with  horses  fresh  and  ready  for  action.  It  is  not 
probable,  however,  that  the  Indians  will  venture  to  take  advantage 
of  such  circumstances ;  but  I  am  inclined  to  think,  that  the  expedi¬ 
tion  will  be  more  likely  to  fail  from  another  source :  it  is  my  opinion 
that  the  appearance  of  so  large  a  military  force  in  their  country, 
will  alarm  the  Indians  to  that  degree,  that  they  will  fly  with  their 
families  to  their  hiding-places  amongst  those  barren  deserts,  which 
they  themselves  can  reach  only  by  great  fatigue  and  extreme 
privation,  and  to  which  our  half-exhausted  troops  cannot  possibly 
follow  them.  From  these  haunts  their  warriors  would  advance  and 
annoy  the  regiment  as  much  as  they  could,  by  striking  at  their 
hunting  parties  and  cutting  off  their  supplies.  To  attempt  to  pursue 
them,  if  they  cannot  be  called  to  a  council,  would  be  as  useless  as 
to  follow  the  wind ;  for  our  troops  in  such  a  case,  are  in  a  country 
where  they  are  obliged  to  subsist  themselves,  and  the  Indians  being 


45 


on  fresh  horses,  with  a  supply  of  provisions,  would  easily  drive  all 
the  buffaloes  ahead  of  them ;  and  endeavour,  as  far  as  possible,  to 
decoy  our  troops  into  the  barren  parts  of  the  country,  where  they 
could  not  find  the  means  of  subsistence. 

The  plan  designed  to  be  pursued,  and  the  only  one  that  can 
succeed,  is  to  send  runners  to  the  different  bands,  explaining  the 
friendly  intentions  of  our  Government,  and  to  invite  them  to  a 
meeting.  For  this  purpose  several  Camanchee  and  Pawnee  prisoners 
have  been  purchased  from  the  Osages,  who  may  be  of  great  service 
in  bringing  about  a  friendly  interview. 

I  ardently  hope  that  this  plan  may  succeed,  for  I  am  anticipating 
great  fatigue  and  privation  in  the  endeavour  to  see  these  wild  tribes 
together;  that  I  may  be  enabled  to  lay  before  the  world  a  just 
estimate  of  their  manners  and  customs. 

I  hope  that  my  suggestions  may  not  be  truly  prophetic ;  but  I 
am  constrained  to  say,  that  I  doubt  very  much  whether  we  shall 
see  anything  more  of  them  than  their  trails,  and  the  sites  of  their 
deserted  villages. 

Several  companies  have  already  started  from  this  place ;  and 
the  remaining  ones  will  be  on  their  march  in  a  day  or  two.  General 
Leavenworth  will  accompany  them  200  miles,  to  the  mouth  of 
False  Washita,  and  I  shall  be  attached  to  his  staff.  Incidents  which 
may  occur,  I  shall  record.  Adieu. 

Note. — In  the  meantime,  as  it  may  be  long  before  I  can  write  again,  I  send 
you  some  account  of  the  Osages ;  whom  I  have  been  visiting  and  painting  during 
the  two  months  I  have  been  staying  here. 


LETTEE— No.  38 


FORT  GIBSON,  ARKANSAS 

Nearly  two  months  have  elapsed  since  I  arrived  at  this  post,  on 
my  way  up  the  river  from  the  Mississippi,  to  join  the  regiment  of 
dragoons  on  their  campaign  into  the  country  of  the  Camanchees 
and  Pawnee  Piets;  during  which  time,  I  have  been  industriously 
at  work  with  my  brush  and  my  pen,  recording  the  looks  and  the 
deeds  of  the  Osages,  who  inhabit  the  country  on  the  North  and  the 
West  of  this. 

The  Osage,  or  (as  they  call  themselves)  Wa-saiv-see,  are  a  tribe 
of  about  5200  in  numbers,  inhabiting  and  hunting  over  the  head¬ 
waters  of  the  Arkansas,  and  Neosho  or  Grand  Eivers.  Their  present 
residence  is  about  700  miles  West  of  the  Mississippi  river;  in  three 
villages,  constituted  of  wigwams,  built  of  barks  and  flags  or  reeds. 
One  of  these  villages  is  within  forty  miles  of  this  Fort;  another 
within  sixty,  and  the  third  about  eighty  miles.  Their  chief  place  of 
trade  is  with  the  sutlers  at  this  post ;  and  there  are  constantly  more 
or  less  of  them  encamped  about  the  garrison. 

The  Osages  may  justly  be  said  to  be  the  tallest  race  of  men  in 
North  America,  either  of  red  or  white  skins ;  there  being  very  few 
indeed  of  the  men,  at  their  full  growth,  who  are  less  than  six  feet 
in  stature,  and  very  many  of  them  six  and  a  half,  and  others  seven 
feet.  They  are  at  the  same  time  well-proportioned  in  their  limbs, 
and  good-looking;  being  rather  narrow  in  the  shoulders,  and,  like 
most  all  very  tall  people,  a  little  inclined  to  stoop ;  not  throwing 
the  chest  out,  and  the  head  and  shoulders  back,  quite  as  much  as 
the  Crows  and  Mandans,  and  other  tribes  amongst  which  I  have 
been  familiar.  Their  movement  is  graceful  and  quick ;  and  in  war 
and  the  chase,  I  think  they  are  equal  to  any  of  the  tribes  about 
them. 

This  tribe,  though  living,  as  they  long  have,  near  the  borders 
of  the  civilised  community,  have  studiously  rejected  everything  of 
civilised  customs ;  and  are  uniformly  dressed  in  skins  of  their  own 
dressing — strictly  maintaining  their  primitive  looks  and  manners, 
without  the  slightest  appearance  of  innovations,  excepting  in  the 
blankets,  which  have  been  recently  admitted  to  their  use  instead 

46 


'-b 


47 


of  the  buffalo  robes,  which  are  now  getting  scarce  amongst 
them. 

The  Osages  are  one  of  the  tribes  who  shave  the  head,  as  I  have 
before  described  when  speaking  of  the  Pawnees  and  Konzas,  and 
they  decorate  and  paint  it  with  great  care,  and  some  considerable 
taste.  There  is  a  peculiarity  in  the  heads  of  these  people  which 
is  very  striking  to  the  eye  of  a  traveller;  and  which  I  find  is 
produced  by  artificial  means  in  infancy.  Their  children,  like  those 
of  all  the  other  tribes,  are  carried  on  a  board,  and  slung  upon  the 
mother’s  back.  The  infants  are  lashed  to  the  boards,  with  their 
backs  upon  them,  apparently  in  a  very  uncomfortable  condition ; 
and  with  the  Osages,  the  head  of  the  child  bound  down  so  tight  to 
the  board,  as  to  force  in  the  occipital  bone,  and  create  an  unnatural 
deficiency  on  the  back  part,  and  consequently  more  than  a  natural 
elevation  of  the  top  of  the  head.  This  custom,  they  told  me  they 
practised,  because  “  it  pressed  out  a  bold  and  manly  appearance  in 
front.”  This  I  think,  from  observation,  to  be  rather  imaginary  than 
real ;  as  I  cannot  see  that  they  exhibit  any  extraordinary  development 
in  the  front ;  though  they  evidently  show  a  striking  deficiency  on 
the  back  part,  and  also  an  unnatural  elevation  on  the  top  of  the  head, 
which  is,  no  doubt,  produced  by  this  custom.  The  difference  between 
this  mode  and  the  one  practised  by  the  Flat-head  Indians  beyond 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  consists  in  this,  that  the  Flat-heads  press  the 
head  between  two  boards ;  the  one  pressing  the  frontal  bone  down, 
whilst  the  other  is  pressing  the  occipital  up,  producing  the  most  fright¬ 
ful  deformity ;  whilst  the  Osages  merely  press  the  occipital  in,  and 
that,  but  to  a  moderate  degree,  occasioning  but  a  slight,  and  in  many 
eases,  almost  immaterial,  departure  from  the  symmetry  of  nature. 

These  people,  like  all  those  tribes  who  shave  the  head,  cut  and 
slit  their  ears  very  much,  and  suspend  from  them  great  quantities 
of  wampum  and  tinsel  ornaments.  Their  necks  are  generally  orna¬ 
mented  also  with  a  profusion  of  wampum  and  beads ;  and  as  they 
live  in  a  warm  climate  where  there  is  not  so  much  necessity  for 
warm  clothing,  as  amongst  the  more  Northern  tribes,  of  whom  I 
have  been  heretofore  speaking ;  their  shoulders,  arms,  and  chests  are 
generally  naked,  and  painted  in  a  great  variety  of  picturesque  ways, 
with  silver  bands  on  the  wrists,  and  oftentimes  a  profusion  of  rings 
on  the  fingers. 

The  head-chief  of  the  Osages  at  this  time,  is  a  young  man  by  the 
name  of  Clermont  (Fig.  150),  the  son  of  a  very  distinguished  chief 
of  that  name,  who  recently  died ;  leaving  his  son  his  successor,  with 
the  consent  of  the  tribe.  I  painted  the  portrait  of  this  chief  at  full 


48 


length,  in  a  beautiful  dress,  his  leggings  fringed  with  scalp-locks, 
and  in  his  hand  his  favourite  and  valued  war-club. 

By  his  side  I  have  painted  also,  at  full  length,  his  wife  and  child 
(Fig.  151).  She  was  richly  dressed  in  costly  cloths  of  civilised 
manufacture,  which  is  almost  a  solitary  instance  amongst  the  Osages, 
who  so  studiously  reject  every  luxury  and  every  custom  of  civilised 
people ;  and  amongst  those,  the  use  of  whiskey,  which  is  on  all  sides 
tendered  to  them — but  almost  uniformly  rejected  !  This  is  an  unusual 
and  unaccountable  thing,  unless  the  influence  which  the  missionaries 
and  teachers  have  exercised  over  them,  has  induced  them  to  abandon 
the  pernicious  and  destructive  habit  of  drinking  to  excess.  From 
what  I  can  learn,  the  Osages  were  once  fond  of  whiskey ;  and,  like 
all  other  tribes  who  have  had  the  opportunity,  were  in  the  habit  of 
using  it  to  excess.  Several  very  good  and  exemplary  men  have 
been  for  years  past  exerting  their  greatest  efforts,  with  those  of 
their  families,  amongst  these  people ;  having  established  schools  and 
agricultural  experiments  amongst  them.  And  I  am  fully  of  the 
opinion,  that  this  decided  anomaly  in  the  Indian  country,  has 
resulted  from  the  devoted  exertions  of  these  pious  and  good  men. 

Amongst  the  chiefs  of  the  Osages,  and  probably  the  next  in 
authority  and  respect  in  the  tribe,  is  Tchong-tas-sab-bee,  the  Black 
Dog  (Fig.  152),  whom  I  painted  also  at  full  length,  with  his  pipe  in 
one  hand,  and  his  tomahawk  in  the  other;  his  head  shaved,  and 
ornamented  with  a  beautiful  crest  of  deer’s  hair,  and  his  body 
wrapped  in  a  huge  mackinaw  blanket. 

This  dignitary,  who  is  blind  in  the  left  eye,  is  one  of  the  most 
conspicuous  characters  in  all  this  country,  rendered  so  by  his  huge 
size  (standing  in  height  and  in  girth,  above  all  of  his  tribe),  as  well 
as  by  his  extraordinary  life.  The  Black  Dog  is  familiarly  known  to 
all  the  officers  of  the  army,  as  well  as  to  Traders  and  all  other  white 
men,  who  have  traversed  these  regions,  and  I  believe,  admired  and 
respected  by  most  of  them. 

His  height,  I  think,  is  seven  feet ;  and  his  limbs  full  and  rather 
fat,  making  his  hulk  formidable,  and  weighing,  perhaps,  some  250 
or  300  pounds.  This  man  is  chief  of  one  of  the  three  bands  of  the 
Osages,  divided  as  they  are  into  three  families;  occupying,  as  I 
before  said,  three  villages,  denominated,  “  Clermont’s  Village,”  “Black 
Dog’s  Village,”  and  “  White  Hair’s  Village.”  The  White  Hair  is 
another  distinguished  leader  of  the  Osages ;  and  some  have  awarded 
to  him  the  title  of  Head  Chief ;  but  in  the  jealous  feelings  of  rivalry 
which  have  long  agitated  this  tribe,  and  sometimes,  even  endangered 
its  peace,  I  believe  it  has  been  generally  agreed  that  his  claims  are 


152 

G.  Catlin 


9i 


G.  C&blirL. 


153 


G-.Cathn 


154 


155 


156 


49 


third  in  the  tribe ;  though  he  justly  claims  the  title  of  a  chief,  and 
a  very  gallant  and  excellent  man.  The  portrait  of  this  man,  I  regret 
to  say,  I  did  not  get. 

Amongst  the  many  brave  and  distinguished  warriors  of  the  tribe, 
one  of  the  most  noted  and  respected  is  Tal-lee  (Fig.  153),  painted  at 
full  length,  with  his  lance  in  his  hand — his  shield  on  his  arm,  and 
his  bow  and  quiver  slung  upon  his  back. 

In  this  portrait,  there  is  a  fair  specimen  of  the  Osage  figure  and 
dress,  as  well  as  of  the  facial  outline,  and  shape  and  character  of  the 
head,  and  mode  of  dressing  and  ornamenting  it  with  the  helmet- 
crest,  and  the  eagle’s  quill. 

If  I  had  the  time  at  present,  I  would  unfold  to  the  reader  some 
of  the  pleasing  and  extraordinary  incidents  of  this  gallant  fellow’s 
military  life;  and  also  the  anecdotes  that  have  grown  out  of  the 
familiar  life  I  have  led  with  this  handsome  and  high-minded  gentleman 
of  the  wild  woods  and  prairies.  Of  the  Black  Dog  I  should  say  more 
also ;  and  most  assuredly  will  not  fail  to  do  justice  to  these  extra¬ 
ordinary  men,  when  I  have  leisure  to  write  off  all  my  notes,  and 
turn  biographer.  At  present,  I  shake  hands  with  these  two  noble¬ 
men,  and  bid  them  good-bye ;  promising  them,  that  if  I  never  get 
time  to  say  more  of  their  virtues — I  shall  say  nothing  against  them. 

In  Figs.  154,  155,  156, 1  have  represented  three  braves,  Ko-ha- 
tunk-a  (the  big  crow);  Nah-com-e-shee  (the  man  of  the  bed),  and 
Mun-ne-pus-kee  (he  who  is  not  afraid).  These  portraits  set  forth 
fairly  the  modes  of  dress  and  ornaments  of  the  young  men  of  the  tribe, 
from  the  tops  of  their  heads  to  the  soles  of  their  feet.  The  only  dress 
they  wear  in  warm  weather  is  the  breech-cloth,  leggings,  and 
moccasins  of  dressed  skins,  and  garters  worn  immediately  below 
the  knee,  ornamented  profusely  with  beads  and  wampum.* 

These  three  distinguished  and  ambitious  young  men,  were  of  the 
best  families  in  the  Osage  nation ;  and  as  they  explained  to  me, 
having  formed  a  peculiar  attachment  to  each  other — they  desired 
me  to  paint  them  all  on  one  canvas,  in  which  wish  I  indulged  them. 

Besides  the  above  personages,  I  also  painted  the  portraits  of  Wa- 

ho-beelc-ee  ( - ),  a  brave,  and  said  to  be  the  handsomest  man  in 

the  Osage  nation ;  Moi-cen-e-shee  (the  constant  walker) ;  Wa-mash- 

*  These  three  young  men,  with  eight  or  ten  others,  were  sent  out  by  the  order 
of  the  Black  Dog  and  the  other  chiefs,  with  the  regiment  of  dragoons,  as  guides 
and  hunters,  for  the  expedition  to  the  Camanchees,  an  account  of  which  will  be 
found  in  the  following  pages. 

I  was  a  fellow-traveller  and  hunter  with  these  young  men  for  several  months, 
and  therefore  have  related  in  the  following  pages  some  of  the  incidents  of  our 
mutual  exploits  whilst  in  the  Camanchee  country. 

VOL.  II. 


D 


50 


ce-sheeh  (he  who  takes  away) ;  Wa-chesh-ulc  (war) ;  Mink  -  chesJc 

( - );  Wash-im-pe-shee  (the  mad  man),  a  distinguished  warrior; 

Shin-ga-wos-sa  (the  handsome  bird);  Cah-he-ga-shin-ga  (the  little 
chief),  and  Tcha-to-ga  (the  mad  buffalo) ;  all  of  which  will  hang  in 
my  Indian  Museum  for  the  inspection  of  the  curious.  The  last 
mentioned  of  these  was  tried  and  convicted  of  the  murder  of  two 
white  men  during  Adams’s  administration,  and  was  afterwards 
pardoned,  and  still  lives,  though  in  disgrace  in  his  tribe,  as  one 
whose  life  had  been  forfeited,  “  but  (as  they  say)  not  worth  taking.” 

The  Osages  have  been  formerly,  and  until  quite  recently,  a 
powerful  and  warlike  tribe ;  carrying  their  arms  fearlessly  through 
all  of  these  realms ;  and  ready  to  cope  with  foes  of  any  kind  that 
they  were  liable  to  meet.  At  present,  the  case  is  quite  different; 
they  have  been  repeatedly  moved  and  jostled  along,  from  the  head 
waters  of  the  White  Eiver,  and  even  from  the  shores  of  the  Missis¬ 
sippi,  to  where  they  now  are ;  and  reduced  by  every  war  and  every 
move.  The  small-pox  has  taken  its  share  of  them  at  two  or  three 
different  times ;  and  the  Konzas,  as  they  are  now  called,  having  been 
a  part  of  the  Osages,  and  receded  from  them,  impaired  their  strength  ; 
and  have  at  last  helped  to  lessen  the  number  of  their  warriors ;  so 
that  their  decline  has  been  very  rapid,  bringing  them  to  the  mere 
handful  that  now  exists  of  them ;  though  still  preserving  their 
valour  as  warriors,  which  they  are  continually  showing  off  as  bravely 
and  as  professionally  as  they  can,  with  the  Pawnees  and  the  Caman- 
chees,  with  whom  they  are  waging  incessant  war ;  although  they  are 
the  principal  sufferers  in  those  scenes  which  they  fearlessly  persist 
in,  as  if  they  were  actually  bent  on  their  self-destruction.  Very  great 
efforts  have  been,  and  are  being  made  amongst  these  people  to 
civilise  and  Christianise  them;  and  still  I  believe  with  but  little 
success.  Agriculture  they  have  caught  but  little  of ;  and  of  religion 
and  civilisation  still  less.  One  good  result  has,  however,  been  pro¬ 
duced  by  these  faithful  labourers,  which  is  the  conversion  of  these 
people  to  temperance ;  which  I  consider  the  first  important  step 
towards  the  other  results,  and  which  of  itself  is  an  achievement  that 
redounds  much  to  the  credit  and  humanity  of  those  whose  lives  have 
been  devoted  to  its  accomplishment. 

Here  I  must  leave  the  Osages  for  the  present,  but  not  the  reader, 
whose  company  I  still  hope  to  have  a  while  longer,  to  hear  how  I  get 
along  amongst  the  wild  and  untried  scenes,  that  I  am  to  start  upon  in 
a  few  days,  in  company  with  the  first  regiment  of  dragoons  in  the 
first  grand  civilised  foray,  into  the  country  of  the  wild  and  warlike 
Camanchees. 


LETTER— No.  39 


MOUTH  OF  FALSE  WASHITA,  RED  RIVER 

Under  the  protection  of  the  United  States’  dragoons,  I  arrived  at 
this  place  three  days  since,  on  my  way  again  in  search  of  the  “Far 
West.”  How  far  I  may  this  time  follow  the  flying  phantom,  is 
uncertain.  I  am  already  again  in  the  land  of  the  buffaloes  and  the 
fleet-bounding  antelopes ;  and  I  anticipate  with  many  other  beating 
hearts,  rare  sport  and  amusement  amongst  the  wild  herds  ere  long. 

We  shall  start  from  hence  in  a  few  days,  and  other  epistles  I 
may  occasionally  drop  you  from  terra  incognita,  for  such  is  the  great 
expanse  of  country  which  we  expect  to  range  over ;  and  names  we 
are  to  give,  and  country  to  explore,  as  far  as  we  proceed.  We  are,  at 
this  place,  on  the  banks  of  the  Red  River,  having  Texas  under  our 
eye  on  the  opposite  bank.  Our  encampment  is  on  the  point  of  land 
between  the  Red  and  False  Washita  Rivers,  at  their  junction ;  and 
the  country  about  us  is  a  panorama  too  beautiful  to  be  painted  with 
a  pen :  it  is,  like  most  of  the  country  in  these  regions,  composed  of 
prairie  and  timber,  alternating  in  the  most  delightful  shapes  and 
proportions  that  the  eye  of  a  connoisseur  could  desire.  The  verdure 
is  everywhere  of  the  deepest  green,  and  the  plains  about  us  are 
literally  speckled  with  buffalo.  We  are  distant  from  Fort  Gibson 
about  200  miles,  which  distance  we  accomplished  in  ten  days. 

A  great  part  of  the  way,  the  country  is  prairie,  gracefully 
undulating — well  watered,  and  continually  beautified  by  copses  and 
patches  of  timber.  On  our  way  my  attention  was  riveted  to  the 
tops  of  some  of  the  prairie  bluffs,  whose  summits  I  approached  with 
inexpressible  delight.  I  rode  to  the  top  of  one  of  these  noble  mounds, 
in  company  with  my  friends  Lieut.  Wheelock  and  Joseph  Chadwick, 
where  we  agreed  that  our  horses  instinctively  looked  and  admired. 
They  thought  not  of  the  rich  herbage  that  was  under  their  feet,  but, 
with  deep-drawn  sighs,  their  necks  were  loftily  curved,  and  their 
eyes  widely  stretched  over  the  landscape  that  was  beneath  us. 
From  this  elevated  spot,  the  horizon  was  bounded  all  around  us  by 
mountain  streaks  of  blue,  softening  into  azure  as  they  vanished,  and 
the  pictured  vales  that  intermediate  lay,  were  deepening  into  green 

as  the  eye  was  returning  from  its  roamings.  Beneath  us,  and  wind- 

si 


52 


ing  through  the  waving  landscape  was  seen  with  peculiar  effect,  the 
“  bold  dragoons,”  marching  in  beautiful  order,  forming  a  train  of  a 
mile  in  length.  Baggage  waggons  and  Indians  (engages)  helped  to 
lengthen  the  procession.  From  the  point  where  we  stood,  the  line 
was  seen  in  miniature;  and  the  undulating  hills  over  which  it 
was  bending  its  way,  give  it  the  appearance  of  a  huge  black  snake, 
gracefully  gliding  over  a  rich  carpet  of  green. 

This  picturesque  country  of  200  miles,  over  which  we  have 
passed,  belongs  to  the  Creeks  and  Choctaws,  and  affords  one  of  the 
richest  and  most  desirable  countries  in  the  world  for  agricultural 
pursuits. 

Scarcely  a  day  has  passed,  in  which  we  have  not  crossed  oak 
ridges  of  several  miles  in  breadth,  with  a  sandy  soil  and  scattering 
timber;  where  the  ground  was  almost  literally  covered  with  vines, 
producing  the  greatest  profusion  of  delicious  grapes,  of  five-eighths  of 
an  inch  in  diameter,  and  hanging  in  such  endless  clusters,  as  justly 
to  entitle  this  singular  and  solitary  wilderness  to  the  style  of  a 
vineyard  (and  ready  for  the  vintage),  for  many  miles  together. 

The  next  hour  we  would  be  trailing  through  broad  and  verdant 
valleys  of  green  prairies,  into  which  we  had  descended ;  and  often¬ 
times  find  our  progress  completely  arrested  by  hundreds  of  acres  of 
small  plum-trees  of  four  or  six  feet  in  height ;  so  closely  woven  and 
interlocked  together,  as  entirely  to  dispute  our  progress,  and  sending 
us  several  miles  around ;  when  every  bush  that  was  in  sight  was  so 
loaded  with  the  weight  of  its  delicious  wild  fruit,  that  they  were  in 
many  instances  literally  without  leaves  on  their  branches,  and  bent 
quite  to  the  ground.  Amongst  these,  and  in  patches,  were  interven¬ 
ing  beds  of  wild  roses,  wild  currants,  and  gooseberries.  And  under¬ 
neath  and  about  them,  and  occasionally  interlocked  with  them,  huge 
masses  of  the  prickly  pears,  and  beautiful  and  tempting  wild  flowers 
that  sweetened  the  atmosphere  above;  whilst  an  occasional  huge 
yellow  rattle-snake,  or  a  copper-head,  could  be  seen  gliding  over,  or 
basking  across  their  vari- coloured  tendrils  and  leaves. 

On  the  eighth  day  of  our  march  we  met,  for  the  first  time,  a  herd 
of  buffaloes ;  and  being  in  advance  of  the  command,  in  company 
with  General  Leavenworth,  Colonel  Dodge,  and  several  other 
officers ;  we  all  had  an  opportunity  of  testing  the  mettle  of  our 
horses  and  our  own  tad  at  the  wild  and  spirited  death.  The  inspira¬ 
tion  of  chase  took  at  once,  and  alike,  with  the  old  and  the  young ; 
a  beautiful  plain  lay  before  us,  and  we  all  gave  spur  for  the  onset. 
General  Leavenworth  and  Colonel  Dodge,  with  their  pistols,  gallantly 
and  handsomely  belaboured  a  fat  cow,  and  were  in  together  at  the 


53 


death.  I  was  not  quite  so  fortunate  in  my  selection,  for  the  one 
which  I  saw  fit  to  gallant  over  the  plain  alone,  of  the  same  sex, 
younger  and  coy,  led  me  a  hard  chase,  and  for  a  long  time,  disputed 
my  near  approach ;  when,  at  length,  the  full  speed  of  my  horse  forced 
us  to  close  company,  and  she  desperately  assaulted  his  shoulders  with 
her  horns.  My  gun  was  aimed,  but  missing  its  fire,  the  muzzle 
entangled  in  her  mane,  and  was  instantly  broke  in  two  in  my  hands, 
and  fell  over  my  shoulder.  My  pistols  were  then  brought  to  bear 
upon  her ;  and  though  severely  wounded,  she  succeeded  in  reaching 
the  thicket,  and  left  me  without  “  a  deed  of  chivalry  to  boast.” — Since 
that  day,  the  Indian  hunters  in  our  charge  have  supplied  us  abun¬ 
dantly  with  buffalo  meat ;  and  report  says  that  the  country  ahead 
of  us  will  afford  us  continual  sport,  and  an  abundant  supply. 

We  are  halting  here  for  a  few  days  to  recruit  horses  and  men,  after 
which  the  line  of  march  will  be  resumed ;  and  if  the  Pawnees  are  as 
near  to  us  as  we  have  strong  reason  to  believe,  from  their  recent  trails 
and  fires,  it  is  probable  that  within  a  few  days  we  shall  “  thrash  ”  them 
or  “get  thrashed unless  through  their  sagacity  and  fear,  they  elude 
our  search  by  flying  before  us  to  their  hiding-places. 

The  prevailing  policy  among  the  officers  seems  to  be,  that  of  flog¬ 
ging  them  first,  and  then  establishing  a  treaty  of  peace.  If  this  plan 
were  morally  right,  I  do  not  think  it  practicable  ;  for,  as  enemies,  I  do 
not  believe  they  will  stand  to  meet  us ;  but,  as  friends,  I  think  we  may 
bring  them  to  a  talk,  if  the  proper  means  are  adopted.  We  are  here 
■encamped  on  the  ground  on  which  Judge  Martin  and  servant  were 
butchered,  and  his  son  kidnapped  by  the  Pawnees  or  Camanchees, 
but  a  few  weeks  since ;  and  the  moment  they  discover  us  in  a  large 
body,  they  will  presume  that  we  are  relentlessly  seeking  for  revenge, 
and  they  will  probably  be  very  shy  of  our  approach.  We  are  over 
the  Washita — the  “  Eubicon  is  passed.”  We  are  invaders  of  a  sacred 
soil.  We  are  carrying  war  in  our  front — and  “  we  shall  soon  see  what 
we  shall  see.” 

The  cruel  fate  of  Judge  Martin  and  family  has  been  published  in 
the  papers ;  and  it  belongs  to  the  regiment  of  dragoons  to  demand  the 
surrender  of  the  murderers,  and  get  for  the  information  of  the  world, 
some  authentic  account  of  the  mode  in  which  this  horrid  outrage  was 
committed. 

J udge  Martin  was  a  very  respectable  and  independent  man,  living 
on  the  lower  part  of  the  Eed  Eiver,  and  in  the  habit  of  taking  his 
children  and  a  couple  of  black  men-servants  with  him,  and  a  tent  to 
live  in,  every  summer,  into  these  wild  regions ;  where  he  pitched  it 
upon  the  prairie,  and  spent  several  months  in  killing  buffaloes  and 


54 


other  wild  game,  for  his  own  private  amusement.  The  news  came  to 
Fort  Gibson  but  a  few  weeks  before  we  started,  that  he  had  been  set 
upon  by  a  party  of  Indians  and  destroyed.  A  detachment  of  troops 
was  speedily  sent  to  the  spot,  where  they  found  his  body  horribly 
mangled,  and  also  of  one  of  his  negroes ;  and  it  is  supposed  that  his 
son,  a  fine  boy  of  nine  years  of  age,  has  been  taken  home  to  their 
villages  by  them.  Where  they  still  retain  him,  and  where  it  is  our 
hope  to  recover  him. 

Great  praise  is  due  to  General  Leavenworth  for  his  early  and 
unremitted  efforts  to  facilitate  the  movements  of  the  regiment  of 
dragoons,  by  opening  roads  from  Gibson  and  Towson  to  this  place. 
We  found  encamped  two  companies  of  infantry  from  Fort  Towson, 
who  will  follow  in  the  rear  of  the  dragoons  as  far  as  necessary,  trans¬ 
porting  with  waggons,  stores  and  supplies,  and  ready,  at  the  same 
time,  to  co-operate  with  the  dragoons  in  case  of  necessity.  General 
Leavenworth  will  advance  with  us  from  this  post,  but  how  far  he  may 
proceed  is  uncertain.  We  know  not  exactly  the  route  which  we  shall 
take,  for  circumstances  alone  must  decide  that  point.  We  shall 
probably  reach  Cantonment  Leavenworth  in  the  fall ;  and  one  thing 
is  certain  (in  the  opinion  of  one  who  has  already  seen  something  of 
Indian  life  and  country),  we  shall  meet  with  many  severe  privations, 
and  reach  that  place  a  jaded  set  of  fellows,  and  as  ragged  as  Jack 
Falstaff’s  famous  band. 

You  are  no  doubt  inquiring,  who  are  these  Pawnees,  Camanchees, 
and  Arapahoes,  and  why  not  tell  us  all  about  them  ?  Their  history, 
numbers,  and  limits  are  still  in  obscurity;  nothing  definite  is  yet 
known  of  them,  but  I  hope  I  shall  soon  be  able  to  give  the  world  a 
clue  to  them. 

If  my  life  and  health  are  preserved,  I  anticipate  many  a  pleasing 
scene  for  my  pencil,  as  well  as  incidents  worthy  of  reciting  to  the 
world,  which  I  shall  occasionally  do,  as  opportunity  may  occur. 


LETTER— No.  40 


MOUTH  OF  FALSE  WASHITA 

Since  I  wrote  my  last  Letter  from  this  place,  I  have  been  detained 
here  with  the  rest  of  the  cavalcade  from  the  extraordinary  sickness 
which  is  afflicting  the  regiment,  and  actually  threatening  to  arrest  its 
progress. 

It  was,  as  I  wrote  the  other  day,  the  expectation  of  the  command¬ 
ing  officer  that  we  should  have  been  by  this  time  recruited  and  re¬ 
covered  from  sickness,  and  ready  to  start  again  on  our  march ;  but 
since  I  wrote,  nearly  one-half  of  the  command,  and  included  amongst 
them,  several  officers,  with  General  Leavenworth,  have  been  thrown 
upon  their  backs,  with  the  prevailing  epidemic,  a  slow  and  distressing 
bilious  fever.  The  horses  of  the  regiment  are  also  sick,  about  an  equal 
proportion,  and  seemingly  suffering  with  the  same  disease.  They  are 
daily  dying,  and  men  are  falling  sick,  and  General  Leavenworth  has 
ordered  Col.  Dodge  to  select  all  the  men,  and  all  the  horses  that  are 
able  to  proceed,  and  be  off  to-morrow  at  nine  o’clock  upon  the  march 
towards  the  Camanchees,  in  hopes  thereby  to  preserve  the  health  of 
the  men,  and  make  the  most  rapid  advance  towards  the  extreme  point 
of  destination. 

General  Leavenworth  has  reserved  Col.  Kearney  to  take  command 
of  the  remaining  troops  and  the  little  encampment ;  and  promises  Col. 
Dodge  that  he  will  himself  be  well  enough  in  a  few  days  to  proceed 
with  a  party  on  his  trail  and  overtake  him  at  the  Cross  Timbers. 

I  should  here  remark,  that  when  we  started  from  Fort  Gibson,  the 
regiment  of  dragoons,  instead  of  the  800  which  it  was  supposed  it 
would  contain,  had  only  organised  to  the  amount  of  400  men,  which 
was  the  number  that  started  from  that  place ;  and  being  at  this  time 
half  disabled,  furnishes  but  200  effective  men  to  penetrate  the  wild 
and  untried  regions  of  the  hostile  Camanchees.  All  has  been  bustle 
and  confusion  this  day,  packing  up  and  preparing  for  the  start  to¬ 
morrow  morning.  My  canvas  and  painting  apparatus  are  prepared 
and  ready  for  the  packhorse,  which  carries  the  goods  and  chattels  of 
my  esteemed  companion  Joseph  Chadwick  and  myself,  and  we  shall 
be  the  two  only  guests  of  the  procession,  and  consequently  the  only 
two  who  will  be  at  liberty  to  gallop  about  where  we  please,  despite 

55 


56 


military  rules  and  regulations,  chasing  the  wild  herds,  or  seeking  our 
own  amusements  in  any  such  modes  as  we  choose.  Mr  Chadwick  is 
a  young  man  from  St  Louis,  with  whom  I  have  been  long  acquainted, 
and  for  whom  I  have  the  highest  esteem.  He  has  so  far  stood  by  me 
as  a  faithful  friend,  and  I  rely  implicitly  on  his  society  during  this 
campaign  for  much  good  company  and  amusement.  Though  I  have 
an  order  from  the  Secretary  of  War  to  the  commanding  officer,  to 
protect  and  supply  me,  I  shall  ask  but  for  their  protection ;  as  I  have,, 
with  my  friend  Joe,  laid  in  our  own  supplies  for  the  campaign,  not 
putting  the  Government  to  any  expense  on  my  account,  in  pursuit  of 
my  own  private  objects. 

I  am  writing  this  under  General  Leavenworth’s  tent,  where  he  has 
generously  invited  me  to  take  up  my  quarters  during  our  encampment 
here,  and  he  promises  to  send  it  by  his  express,  which  starts  to-morrow 
with  a  mail  from  this  to  Fort  Towson  on  the  frontier,  some  hundreds 
of  miles  below  this.  At  the  time  I  am  writing,  the  General  lies  pallid 
and  emaciated  before  me,  on  his  couch,  with  a  dragoon  fanning  him, 
whilst  he  breathes  forty  or  fifty  breaths  a  minute,  and  writhes  under 
a  burning  fever,  although  he  is  yet  unwilling  even  to  admit  that  he 
is  sick. 

In  my  last  Letter  I  gave  a  brief  account  of  a  buffalo  chase,  where 
General  Leavenworth  and  Col.  Dodge  took  parts,  and  met  with  pleas¬ 
ing  success.  The  next  day  while  on  the  march,  and  a  mile  or  so  in 
advance  of  the  regiment,  and  two  days  before  we  reached  this  place, 
General  Leavenworth,  Col.  Dodge,  Lieut.  Wheelock  and  myself  were 
jogging  along,  and  all  in  turn  complaining  of  the  lameness  of  our 
bones,  from  the  chase  on  the  former  day,  when  the  General,  who  had 
long  ago  had  his  surfeit  of  pleasure  of  this  kind  on  the  Upper  Missouri, 
remonstrated  against  further  indulgence,  in  the  following  manner : 
“Well,  Colonel,  this  running  for  buffaloes  is  a  bad  business  for  us — 
we  are  getting  too  old,  and  should  leave  such  amusements  to  the  young 
men ;  I  have  had  enough  of  this  fun  in  my  life,  and  I  am  determined 
not  to  hazard  my  limbs  or  weary  my  horse  any  more  with  it — it  is 
the  height  of  folly  for  us,  but  will  do  well  enough  for  boys.”  Col. 
Dodge  assented  at  once  to  his  resolves,  and  approved  them ;  whilst  I, 
who  had  tried  it  in  every  form  (and  I  had  thought,  to  my  heart’s  con¬ 
tent),  on  the  Upper  Missouri,  joined  my  assent  to  the  folly  of  our 
destroying  our  horses,  which  had  a  long  journey  to  perform,  and 
agreed  that  I  would  join  no  more  in  the  buffalo  chase,  however  near 
and  inviting  they  might  come  to  me. 

In  the  midst  of  this  conversation,  and  these  mutual  declarations 
(or  rather  just  at  the  end  of  them),  as  we  were  jogging  along  in  “  Indian 


57 


file”  and  General  Leavenworth  taking  the  lead,  and  just  rising  to  the 
top  of  a  little  hill  over  which  it  seems  he  had  had  an  instant  peep,  he 
dropped  himself  suddenly  upon  the  side  of  his  horse  and  wheeled  back! 
and  rapidly  informed  us  with  an  agitated  whisper,  and  an  exceeding 
game  contraction  of  the  eye,  that  a  snug  little  band  of  buffaloes  were 
quietly  grazing  just  over  the  knoll  in  a  beautiful  meadow  for  running, 
and  that  if  I  would  take  to  the  left !  and  Lieut.  Wheelock  to  the  right ! 
and  let  him  and  the  Colonel  dash  right  into  the  midst  of  them  !  we 
could  play  the  devil  with  them !  !  One-half  of  this  at  least  was  said 
after  he  had  got  upon  his  feet  and  taken  off  his  portmanteau  and  valise, 
in  which  we  had  all  followed  suit,  and  were  mounting  for  the  start ! 
and  I  am  almost  sure  nothing  else  was  said,  and  if  it  had  been  I 
should  not  have  heard  it,  for  I  was  too  far  off !  and  too  rapidly  dashed 
over  the  waving  grass  !  and  too  eagerly  gazing  and  plying  the  whip, 
to  hear  or  to  see,  anything  but  the  trampling  hoofs  !  and  the  blackened 
throng !  and  the  darting  steeds !  and  the  flashing  of  guns !  until  I  had 
crossed  the  beautiful  lawn !  and  the  limb  of  a  tree,  as  my  horse  was 
darting  into  the  timber,  had  crossed  my  horse’s  back,  and  had  scraped 
me  into  the  grass,  from  which  I  soon  raised  my  head !  and  all  was 
silent !  and  all  out  of  sight !  save  the  dragoon  regiment,  which  I  could 
see  in  distance  creeping  along  on  the  top  of  a  high  hill.  I  found  my 
legs  under  me  in  a  few  moments,  and  put  them  in  their  accustomed 
positions,  none  of  which  would  for  some  time,  answer  the  usual  pur¬ 
pose  ;  but  I  at  last  got  them  to  work,  and  brought  “  Charley  ”  out  of 
the  bushes,  where  he  had  “  brought  up  ”  in  the  top  of  a  fallen  tree, 
without  damage. 

No  buffalo  was  harmed  in  this  furious  assault,  nor  horse  nor 
rider.  Col.  Dodge  and  Lieut.  Wheelock  had  joined  the  regiment, 
and  General  Leavenworth  joined  me,  with  too  much  game  expression 
yet  in  his  eye  to  allow  him  more  time  than  to  say,  “  I’ll  have  that 
calf  before  I  quit !  ”  and  away  he  sailed,  “  up  hill  and  down  dale,” 
in  pursuit  of  a  fine  calf  that  had  been  hidden  on  the  ground  during 
the  chase,  and  was  now  making  its  way  over  the  prairies  in  pursuit 
of  the  herd.  I  rode  to  the  top  of  a  little  hill  to  witness  the  success 
of  the  General’s  second  effort,  and  after  he  had  come  close  upon  the 
little  affrighted  animal,  it  dodged  about  in  such  a  manner  as  evidently 
to  baffle  his  skill,  and  perplex  his  horse,  which  at  last  fell  in  a  hole, 
and  both  were  instantly  out  of  my  sight.  I  ran  my  horse  with  all 
possible  speed  to  the  spot,  and  found  him  on  his  hands  and  knees, 
endeavouring  to  get  up.  I  dismounted,  and  raised  him  on  to  his 
feet,  when  I  asked  him  if  he  was  hurt,  to  which  he  replied,  “  No,  but 
I  might  have  been,”  when  he  instantly  fainted,  and  I  laid  him  on 

D* 


58 


the  grass.  I  had  left  my  canteen  with  my  portmanteau,  and  had 
nothing  to  administer  to  him,  nor  was  there  water  near  us.  I  took 
my  lancet  from  my  pocket  and  was  tying  his  arm  to  open  a  vein, 
when  he  recovered,  and  objected  to  the  operation,  assuring  me  that 
he  was  not  in  the  least  injured.  I  caught  his  horse  and  soon  got 
him  mounted  again,  when  we  rode  on  together,  and  after  two  or 
three  hours  were  enabled  to  join  the  regiment. 

From  that  hour  to  the  present,  I  think  I  have  seen  a  decided 
change  in  the  General’s  face ;  he  has  looked  pale  and  feeble,  and 
been  continually  troubled  with  a  violent  cough.  I  have  rode  by  the 
side  of  him  from  day  to  day,  and  he  several  times  told  me  that  he 
was  fearful  he  was  badly  hurt.  He  looks  very  feeble  now,  and  I 
very  much  fear  the  result  of  the  fever  that  has  set  in  upon  him. 

We  take  up  the  line  of  march  at  bugle-call  in  the  morning,  and 
it  may  be  a  long  time  before  I  can  send  a  Letter  again,  as  there  are 
no  post-offices  nor  mail  carriers  in  the  country  where  we  are  now 
going.  It  will  take  a  great  deal  to  stop  me  from  writing,  however, 
and  as  I  am  now  to  enter  upon  one  of  the  most  interesting  parts 
of  the  Indian  country,  inasmuch  as  it  is  one  of  the  wildest  and  most 
hostile,  I  shall  surely  scribble  an  occasional  Letter,  if  I  have  to 
carry  them  in  my  own  pocket,  and  bring  them  in  with  me  on  my 
return. 


LETTER— No.  41 


GREAT  CAMANCHEE  VILLAGE 

We  are  again  at  rest,  and  I  am  with  subjects  rude  and  almost 
infinite  around  me,  for  my  pen  and  my  brush.  The  little  band  of 
dragoons  are  encamped  by  a  fine  spring  of  cool  water,  within  half 
a  mile  of  the  principal  town  of  the  Camanchees,  and  in  the  midst 
of  a  bustling  and  wild  scene,  I  assure  you ;  and  before  I  proceed  to 
give  an  account  of  things  and  scenes  that  are  about  me,  I  must 
return  for  a  few  moments  to  the  place  where  I  left  the  reader,  at 
the  encampment  at  False  Washita,  and  rapidly  travel  with  him  over 
the  country  that  lies  between  that  place  and  the  Camanchee  village, 
where  I  am  now  writing. 

On  the  morning  after  my  last  Letter  was  written,  the  sound  and 
efficient  part  of  the  regiment  was  in  motion  at  nine  o’clock.  And 
with  them,  my  friend  “Joe”  and  I,  with  our  provisions  laid  in,  and 
all  snugly  arranged  on  our  packhorse,  which  we  alternately  led  or 
drove  between  us. 

Our  course  was  about  due  west,  on  the  divide  between  the 
Washita  and  Red  Rivers  with  our  faces  looking  towards  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  The  country  over  which  we  passed  from  day  to  day, 
was  inimitably  beautiful;  being  the  whole  way  one  continuous  prairie 
of  green  fields,  with  occasional  clusters  of  timber  and  shrubbery, 
just  enough  for  the  uses  of  cultivating-man,  and  for  the  pleasure  of 
his  eyes  to  dwell  upon.  The  regiment  was  rather  more  than  half 
on  the  move,  consisting  of  250  men,  instead  of  200  as  I  predicted 
in  my  Letter  from  that  place.  All  seemed  gay  and  buoyant  at  the 
fresh  start,  which  all  trusted  was  to  liberate  us  from  the  fatal 
miasma  which  we  conceived  was  hovering  about  the  mouth  of  the 
False  Washita.  We  advanced  on  happily,  and  met  with  no  trouble 
until  the  second  night  of  our  encampment,  in  the  midst  of  which  we 
were  thrown  into  “pie”  (as  printers  would  say),  in  an  instant  of 
the  most  appalling  alarm  and  confusion.  We  were  encamped  on  a 
beautiful  prairie,  where  we  were  every  hour  apprehensive  of  the 
lurking  enemy.  And  in  the  dead  of  night,  when  all  seemed  to  be 
sound  asleep  and  quiet,  the  instant  sound  and  flash  of  a  gun  within 

59 


60 


-a  few  paces  of  us !  and  then  the  most  horrid  and  frightful  groans 
that  instantly  followed  it,  brought  us  all  upon  our  hands  and  knees 
in  an  instant,  and  our  affrighted  horses  (which  were  breaking  their 
lassos),  in  full  speed  and  fury  over  our  heads,  with  the  frightful  and 
mingled  din  of  snorting,  and  cries  of  “  Indians !  Indians  !  Pawnees  !  ” 
etc.,  which  rang  from  every  part  of  our  little  encampment !  In  a  few 
moments  the  excitement  was  chiefly  over,  and  silence  restored; 
when  we  could  hear  the  trampling  hoofs  of  the  horses,  which  were 
making  off  in  all  directions  (not  unlike  a  drove  of  swine  that  once 
ran  into  the  sea,  when  they  were  possessed  of  devils) ;  and  leaving 
but  now  and  then  an  individual  quadruped  hanging  at  its  stake 
within  our  little  camp.  The  mode  of  our  encampment  was,  uniformly, 
in  four  lines,  forming  a  square  of  fifteen  or  twenty  rods  in  diameter. 
Upon  these  lines  our  saddles  and  packs  were  all  laid,  at  the  distance 
of  five  feet  from  each  other ;  and  each  man,  after  grazing  his  horse, 
had  it  fastened  with  a  rope  or  lasso,  to  a  stake  driven  in  the  ground 
at  a  little  distance  from  his  feet ;  thus  enclosing  the  horses  all  within 
the  square,  for  the  convenience  of  securing  them  in  case  of  attack 
or  alarm.  In  this  way  we  lay  encamped,  when  we  were  awakened 
by  the  alarm  that  I  have  just  mentioned;  and  our  horses  affrighted, 
dashed  out  of  the  camp,  and  over  the  heads  of  their  masters  in  the 
desperate  “  Stampeclo.” 

After  an  instant  preparation  for  battle,  and  a  little  recovery  from 
the  fright,  which  was  soon  effected  by  waiting  a  few  moments  in 
vain,  for  the  enemy  to  come  on ; — a  general  explanation  took  place, 
which  brought  all  to  our  legs  again,  and  convinced  us  that  there  was 
no  decided  obstacle,  as  yet,  to  our  reaching  the  Camanchee  towns ; 
and  after  that  “  sweet  home,”  and  the  arms  of  our  wives  and  dear 
little  children,  provided  we  could  ever  overtake  and  recover  our 
horses,  which  had  swept  off  in  fifty  directions,  and  with  impetus 
enough  to  ensure  us  employment  for  a  day  or  two  to  come. 

At  the  proper  moment  for  it  to  be  made,  there  was  a  general 
inquiry  for  the  cause  of  this  real  misfortune,  when  it  was  ascertained 
to  have  originated  in  the  following  manner.  A  “  raw  recruit,”  who 
was  standing  as  one  of  the  sentinels  on  that  night,  saw,  as  he  says 
“  he  supposed,”  an  Indian  creeping  out  of  a  bunch  of  bushes  a  few 
paces  in  front  of  him,  upon  whom  he  levelled  his  rifle ;  and  as  the 
poor  creature  did  not  “  advance  and  give  the  countersign  ”  at  his  call, 
nor  any  answer  at  all,  he  “let  off!”  and  popped  a  bullet  through 
the  heart  of  a  poor  dragoon  horse,  which  had  strayed  away  on  the 
night  before,  and  had  faithfully  followed  our  trail  all  the  day,  and 
was  now,  with  a  beastly  misgiving,  coming  up,  and  slowly  poking 


61 


through  a  little  thicket  of  bushes  into  camp,  to  join  its  comrades,  in 
servitude  again ! 

The  sudden  shock  of  a  gun,  and  the  most  appalling  groans  of 
this  poor  dying  animal,  in  the  dead  of  night,  and  so  close  upon  the 
heels  of  sweet  sleep,  created  a  long  vibration  of  nerves,  and  a  day 
of  great  perplexity  and  toil  which  followed,  as  we  had  to  retrace  our 
steps  twenty  miles  or  more,  in  pursuit  of  affrighted  horses ;  of  which 
some  fifteen  or  twenty  took  up  wild  and  free  life  upon  the  prairies, 
to  which  they  were  abandoned,  as  they  could  not  be  found.  After 
a  detention  of  two  days  in  consequence  of  this  disaster,  we  took  up 
the  line  of  march  again,  and  pursued  our  course  with  vigour  and 
success,  over  a  continuation  of  green  fields,  enamelled  with  wild 
flowers,  and  pleasingly  relieved  with  patches  and  groves  of  timber. 

On  the  fourth  day  of  our  march,  we  discovered  many  fresh  signs  of 
buffaloes ;  and  at  last,  immense  herds  of  them  grazing  on  the  distant 
hills.  Indian  trails  were  daily  growing  fresh,  and  their  smokes  were 
seen  in  various  directions  ahead  of  us.  And  on  the  same  day  at  noon, 
we  discovered  a  large  party  at  several  miles  distance,  sitting  on  their 
horses  and  looking  at  us.  From  the  glistening  of  the  blades  of  their 
lances,  which  were  blazing  as  they  turned  them  in  the  sun,  it  was 
at  first  thought  that  they  were  Mexican  cavalry,  who  might  have 
been  apprised  of  our  approach  into  their  country,  and  had  advanced  to 
contest  the  point  with  us.  On  drawing  a  little  nearer,  however,  and 
scanning  them  closer  with  our  spy-glasses,  they  were  soon  ascer¬ 
tained  to  be  a  war-party  of  Camancliees,  on  the  look-out  for  their 
enemies. 

The  regiment  was  called  to  a  halt,  and  the  requisite  preparations 
made  and  orders  issued,  we  advanced  in  a  direct  line  towards  them  until 
we  had  approached  to  within  two  or  three  miles  of  them,  when  they 
suddenly  disappeared  over  the  hill,  and  soon  after  showed  themselves 
on  another  mound  further  off  and  in  a  different  direction.  The  course 
of  the  regiment  was  then  changed,  and  another  advance  towards  them 
was  commenced,  and  as  before,  they  disappeared  and  showed  them¬ 
selves  in  another  direction.  After  several  such  efforts,  which  proved 
ineffectual,  Col.  Dodge  ordered  the  command  to  halt,  while  he  rode 
forward  with  a  few  of  his  staff,  and  an  ensign  carrying  a  white 
flag.  I  joined  this  advance,  and  the  Indians  stood  their  ground 
until  we  had  come  within  half  a  mile  of  them,  and  could  distinctly 
observe  all  their  numbers  and  movements.  We  then  came  to  a  halt, 
and  the  white  flag  was  sent  a  little  in  advance,  and  waved  as  a 
signal  for  them  to  approach ;  at  which  one  of  their  party  galloped 
out  in  advance  of  the  war-party,  on  a  milk-white  horse,  carrying  a 


62 


piece  of  white  buffalo  skin  on  the  point  of  his  long  lance  in  reply  to 
our  flag. 

This  moment  was  the  commencement  of  one  of  the  most  thrilling 
and  beautiful  scenes  I  ever  witnessed.  All  eyes,  both  from  his  own 
party  and  ours,  were  fixed  upon  the  manceuvres  of  this  gallant  little 
fellow,  and  he  well  knew  it. 

The  distance  between  the  two  parties  was  perhaps  half  a  mile,  and 
that  a  beautiful  and  gently  sloping  prairie ;  over  which  he  was  for  the 
space  of  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  reining  and  spurring  his  maddened  horse, 
and  gradually  approaching  us  by  tacking  to  the  right  and  the  left, 
like  a  vessel  beating  against  the  wind.  He  at  length  came  prancing 
and  leaping  along  till  he  met  the  flag  of  the  regiment,  when  he  leaned 
his  spear  for  a  moment  against  it,  looking  the  bearer  full  in  the  face, 
when  he  wheeled  his  horse,  and  dashed  up  to  Col.  Dodge  (Fig.  157), 
with  his  extended  hand,  which  was  instantly  grasped  and  shaken. 
We  all  had  him  by  the  hand  in  a  moment,  and  the  rest  of  the  party 
seeing  him  received  in  this  friendly  manner,  instead  of  being  sacrificed, 
as  they  undoubtedly  expected,  started  under  “  full  whip  ”  in  a  direct 
line  towards  us,  and  in  a  moment  gathered,  like  a  black  cloud,  around 
us  !  The  regiment  then  moved  up  in  regular  order,  and  a  general 
shake  of  the  hand  ensued,  which  was  accomplished  by  each  warrior 
riding  along  the  ranks,  and  shaking  the  hand  of  every  one  as  he 
passed.  This  necessary  form  took  up  a  considerable  time,  and  during 
the  whole  operation,  my  eyes  were  fixed  upon  the  gallant  and  wonder¬ 
ful  appearance  of  the  little  fellow  who  bore  us  the  white  flag  on  the 
point  of  his  lance.  He  rode  a  fine  and  spirited  wild  horse,  which  was 
as  white  as  the  drifted  snow,  with  an  exuberant  mane,  and  its  long 
and  bushy  tail  sweeping  the  ground.  In  his  hand  he  tightly  drew 
the  reins  upon  a  heavy  Spanish  bit,  and  at  every  jump,  plunged  into 
the  animal’s  sides,  till  they  were  in  a  gore  of  blood,  a  huge  pair  of 
spurs,  plundered,  no  doubt,  from  the  Spaniards  in  their  border  wars, 
which  are  continually  waged  on  the  Mexican  frontiers.  The  eyes  of 
this  noble  little  steed  seemed  to  be  squeezed  out  of  its  head ;  and  its 
fright,  and  its  agitation  had  brought  out  upon  its  skin  a  perspiration 
that  was  fretted  into  a  white  foam  and  lather.  The  warrior’s  quiver 
was  slung  on  the  warrior’s  back,  and  his  bow  grasped  in  his  left 
hand,  ready  for  instant  use,  if  called  for.  His  shield  was  on  his 
arm  and  across  his  thigh,  in  a  beautiful  cover  of  buckskin,  his  gun 
was  slung — and  in  his  right  hand  his  lance  of  fourteen  feet  in 
length. 

Thus  armed  and  equipped  was  this  dashing  cavalier ;  and  nearly 
in  the  same  manner,  all  the  rest  of  the  party ;  and  very  many  of  them 


63 


leading  an  extra  horse,  which  we  soon  learned  was  the  favourite  war- 
horse  ;  and  from  which  circumstances  altogether,  we  soon  understood 
that  they  were  a  war-party  in  search  of  their  enemy. 

After  a  shake  of  the  hand,  we  dismounted,  and  the  pipe  was  lit, 
and  passed  around.  And  then  a  “  talk  ”  was  held,  in  which  we  were 
aided  by  a  Spaniard  we  luckily  had  with  us,  who  could  converse  with 
one  of  the  Camanchees,  who  spoke  some  Spanish. 

Colonel  Dodge  explained  to  them  the  friendly  motives  with  which 
we  were  penetrating  their  country — that  we  were  sent  by  the  Presi¬ 
dent  to  reach  their  villages — to  see  the  chiefs  of  the  Camanchees  and 
Pawnee  Piets — to  shake  hands  with  them,  and  to  smoke  the  pipe  of 
peace,  and  to  establish  an  acquaintance,  and  consequently  a  system 
of  trade  that  would  be  beneficial  to  both. 

They  listened  attentively,  and  perfectly  appreciated  ;  and  taking 
Colonel  Dodge  at  his  word,  relying  with  confidence  in  what  he  told 
them  ;  they  informed  us  that  their  great  town  was  within  a  few  days’ 
march,  and  pointing  in  the  direction — offered  to  abandon  their  war- 
excursion,  and  turn  about  and  escort  us  to  it,  which  they  did  in  perfect 
good  faith.  We  were  on  the  march  in  the  afternoon  of  that  day,  and 
from  day  to  day  they  busily  led  us  on,  over  hill  and  dale,  encamp¬ 
ing  by  the  side  of  us  at  night,  and  resuming  the  march  in  the 
morning. 

During  this  march,  over  one  of  the  most  lovely  and  picturesque 
countries  in  the  world,  we  had  enough  continually  to  amuse  and 
excite  us.  The  whole  country  seemed  at  times  to  be  alive  with 
buffaloes,  and  bands  of  wild  horses. 

We  had  with  us  about  thirty  Osage  and  Cherokee,  Seneca  and 
Delaware  Indians,  employed  as  guides  and  hunters  for  the  regiment ; 
and  with  the  war-party  of  ninety  or  a  hundred  Camanchees,  we  formed 
a  most  picturesque  appearance  while  passing  over  the  green  fields ; 
and  consequently,  sad  havoc  amongst  the  herds  of  buffaloes,  which  we 
were  almost  hourly  passing.  We  were  now  out  of  the  influence  and 
reach  of  bread  stuffs,  and  subsisted  ourselves  on  buffaloes’  meat  alto¬ 
gether  ;  and  the  Indians  of  the  different  tribes,  emulous  to  show  their 
skill  in  the  chase,  and  prove  the  mettle  of  their  horses,  took  infinite 
pleasure  in  dashing  into  every  herd  that  we  approached ;  by  which 
means,  the  regiment  was  abundantly  supplied  from  day  to  day  with 
fresh  meat. 

In  one  of  those  spirited  scenes  when  the  regiment  were  on  the 
march,  and  the  Indians  with  their  bows  and  arrows  were  closely 
plying  a  band  of  these  affrighted  animals,  they  made  a  bolt  through 
the  line  of  the  dragoons,  and  a  complete  breach,  through  which  the 


64 


whole  herd  passed,  upsetting  horses  and  riders  in  the  most  amusing 
manner  (Fig.  158),  and  receiving  such  shots  as  came  from  those  guns 
and  pistols  that  were  aimed,  and  not  fired  off  into  the  empty  air. 

The  buffaloes  are  very  blind  animals,  and  owing,  probably  in  a 
great  measure,  to  the  profuse  locks  that  hang  over  their  eyes,  they 
run  chiefly  by  the  nose,  and  follow  in  the  tracks  of  each  other, 
seemingly  heedless  of  what  is  about  them ;  and  of  course,  easily 
disposed  to  rush  in  a  mass,  and  the  whole  tribe  or  gang  to  pass  in 
the  tracks  of  those  that  have  first  led  the  way. 

The  tract  of  country  over  which  we  passed,  between  the  False 
Washita  and  this  place,  is  stocked,  not  only  with  buffaloes,  but  with 
numerous  bands  of  wild  horses,  many  of  which  we  saw  every  day. 
There  is  no  other  animal  on  the  prairies  so  wild  and  so  sagacious  as 
the  horse ;  and  none  other  so  difficult  to  come  up  with.  So  remark¬ 
ably  keen  is  their  eye,  that  they  will  generally  run  “  at  the  sight,”' 
when  they  are  a  mile  distant ;  being,  no  doubt,  able  to  distinguish 
the  character  of  the  enemy  that  is  approaching  when  at  that 
distance ;  and  when  in  motion,  will  seldom  stop  short  of  three  or 
four  miles.  I  made  many  attempts  to  approach  them  by  stealth,  when 
they  were  grazing  and  playing  their  gambols,  without  ever  having 
been  more  than  once  able  to  succeed.  In  this  instance,  I  left  my 
horse,  and  with  my  friend  Chadwick,  skulked  through  a  ravine  for 
a  couple  of  miles ;  until  we  were  at  length  brought  within  gun-shot 
of  a  fine  herd  of  them,  when  I  used  my  pencil  for  some  time,  while 
we  were  under  cover  of  a  little  hedge  of  bushes  which  effectually 
screened  us  from  their  view.  In  this  herd  we  saw  all  the  colours,, 
nearly,  that  can  be  seen  in  a  kennel  of  English  hounds.  Some 
were  milk-white,  some  jet  black — others  were  sorrel,  and  bay,  and 
cream  colour — many  were  of  an  iron  grey;  and  others  were  pied, 
containing  a  variety  of  colours  on  the  same  animal.  Their  manes, 
were  very  profuse,  and  hanging  in  the  wildest  confusion  over  their 
necks  and  faces — and  their  long  tails  swept  the  ground  (see 
Fig.  160). 

After  we  had  satisfied  our  curiosity  in  looking  at  these  proud  and 
playful  animals,  we  agreed  that  we  would  try  the  experiment  of 
“  creasing  ”  one,  as  it  is  termed  in  this  country ;  which  is  done  by 
shooting  them  through  the  gristle  on  the  top  of  the  neck,  which 
stuns  them  so  that  they  fall,  and  are  secured  with  the  hobbles  on  the 
feet;  after  which  they  rise  again  without  fatal  injury.  This  is  a 
practice  often  resorted  to  by  expert  hunters,  with  good  rifles,  who  are 
not  able  to  take  them  in  any  other  way.  My  friend  Joe  and  I  were 
armed  on  this  occasion,  each  with  a  light  fowling-piece,  which  have 


99 


162 

n.Catbn- 


65 


not  quite  the  preciseness  in  throwing  a  bullet  that  a  rifle  has ;  and 
having  both  levelled  our  pieces  at  the  withers  of  a  noble,  fine-looking 
iron  grey,  we  pulled  trigger,  and  the  poor  creature  fell,  and  the  rest 
of  the  herd  were  out  of  sight  in  a  moment.  We  advanced  speedily 
to  him,  and  had  the  most  inexpressible  mortification  of  finding,  that 
we  never  had  thought  of  hobbles  or  halters,  to  secure  him — and  in 
a  few  moments  more,  had  the  still  greater  mortification,  and  even 
anguish,  to  find  that  one  of  our  shots  had  broken  the  poor  creature’s 
neck,  and  that  he  was  quite  dead ! 

The  laments  of  poor  Chadwick  for  the  wicked  folly  of  destroying 
this  noble  animal,  were  such  as  I  never  shall  forget;  and  so  guiltydid  we 
feel  that  we  agreed  that  when  we  joined  the  regiment,  we  should  boast 
of  all  the  rest  of  our  hunting  feats,  but  never  make  mention  of  this. 

The  usual  mode  of  taking  the  wild  horses,  is,  by  throwing  the  lasso, 
whilst  pursuing  them  at  full  speed  (Fig.  161),  and  dropping  a  noose 
over  their  necks,  by  which  their  speed  is  soon  checked,  and  they  are 
“  choked  down.”  The  lasso  is  a  thong  of  raw  hide,  some  ten  or  fifteen 
yards  in  length,  twisted  or  braided,  with  a  noose  fixed  at  the  end  of 
it ;  which,  when  the  coil  of  the  lasso  is  thrown  out,  drops  with  great 
certainty  over  the  neck  of  the  animal,  which  is  soon  conquered. 

The  Indian,  when  he  starts  for  a  wild  horse,  mounts  one  of  the 
fleetest  he  can  get,  and  coiling  his  lasso  on  his  arm,  starts  off,  under 
the  “  full  whip,”  till  he  can  enter  the  band,  when  he  soon  gets  it 
over  the  neck  of  one  of  the  number ;  when  he  instantly  dismounts, 
leaving  his  own  horse,  and  runs  as  fast  as  he  can,  letting  the  lasso 
pass  out  gradually  and  carefully  through  his  hands,  until  the  horse 
falls  for  want  of  breath,  and  lies  helpless  on  the  ground,  at  which 
time  the  Indian  advances  slowly  towards  the  horse’s  head,  keeping 
his  lasso  tight  upon  its  neck,  until  he  fastens  a  pair  of  hobbles  on  the 
animal’s  two  fore  feet,  and  also  loosens  the  lasso  (giving  the  horse 
chance  to  breathe)  and  gives  it  a  noose  arouud  the  under  jaw,  by 
which  he  gets  great  power  over  the  affrighted  animal,  which  is  rearing 
and  plunging  when  it  gets  breath ;  and  by  which,  as  he  advances, 
hand  over  hand,  towards  the  horse’s  nose  (Fig.  162),  he  is  able  to 
hold  it  down  and  prevent  it  from  throwing  itself  over  on  its  back,  at 
the  hazard  of  its  limbs.  By  this  means  he  gradually  advances,  until 
he  is  able  to  place  his  hand  on  the  animal’s  nose,  and  over  its  eyes ; 
and  at  length  to  breathe  in  its  nostrils,  when  it  soon  becomes  docile 
and  conquered ;  so  that  he  has  little  else  to  do  than  to  remove  the 
hobbles  from  its  feet,  and  lead  or  ride  it  into  camp. 

This  “breaking  down”  or  taming,  however,  is  not  without  the 
most  desperate  trial  on  the  part  of  the  horse,  which  rears  and  plunges 
VOL.  II.  E 


66 


in  every  possible  way  to  effect  its  escape,  until  its  power  is  exhausted, 
and  it  becomes  covered  with  foam ;  and  at  last  yields  to  the  power  of 
man,  and  becomes  his  willing  slave  for  the  rest  of  its  life.  By  this 
very  rigid  treatment,  the  poor  animal  seems  to  be  so  completely 
conquered,  that  it  makes  no  further  struggle  for  its  freedom ;  but  sub¬ 
mits  quietly  ever  after,  and  is  led  or  rode  away  with  very  little  diffi¬ 
culty.  Great  care  is  taken,  however,  in  this  and  in  subsequent 
treatment,  not  to  subdue  the  spirit  of  the  animal,  which  is  carefully 
preserved  and  kept  up,  although  they  use  them  with  great  severity; 
being,  generally  speaking,  cruel  masters. 

The  wild  horse  of  these  regions  is  a  small,  but  very  powerful 
animal ;  with  an  exceedingly  prominent  eye,  sharp  nose,  high  nostril, 
small  feet  and  delicate  leg ;  and  undoubtedly,  have  sprung  from  a 
stock  introduced  by  the  Spaniards,  at  the  time  of  the  invasion  of 
Mexico;  which  having  strayed  off  upon  the  prairies,  have  run  wild, 
and  stocked  the  plains  from  this  to  Lake  Winnipeg,  two  or  three 
thousand  miles  to  the  North.* 

This  useful  animal  has  been  of  great  service  to  the  Indians  living 
on  these  vast  plains,  enabling  them  to  take  their  game  more  easily, 
to  carry  their  burthens,  etc. ;  and  no  doubt,  render  them  better  and 
handier  service  than  if  they  were  of  a  larger  and  heavier  breed. 
Vast  numbers  of  them  are  also  killed  for  food  by  the  Indians,  at 
seasons  when  buffaloes  and  other  game  are  scarce.  They  subsist 
themselves  both  in  winter  and  summer  by  biting  at  the  grass,  which 
they  can  always  get  in  sufficient  quantities  for  their  food. 

Whilst  on  our  march  we  met  with  many  droves  of  these  beautiful 
animals,  and  several  times  had  the  opportunity  of  seeing  the  Indians 
pursue  them,  and  take  them  with  the  lasso.  The  first  successful 
instance  of  the  kind  was  effected  by  one  of  our  guides  and  hunters, 
by  the  name  of  Beatte,  a  Frenchman,  whose  parents  had  lived  nearly 
their  whole  lives  in  the  Osage  village ;  and  who,  himself  had  been 
reared  from  infancy  amongst  them ;  and  in  a  continual  life  of  Indian 
modes  and  amusements,  had  acquired  all  the  skill  and  tact  of  his 
Indian  teachers,  and  probably  a  little  more ;  for  he  is  reputed,  with¬ 
out  exception,  the  best  hunter  in  these  Western  regions. 

This  instance  took  place  one  day  whilst  the  regiment  was  at  its 
usual  halt  of  an  hour,  in  the  middle  of  the  day. 

*  There  are  many  very  curious  traditions  about  the  first  appearance  of  horses 
amongst  the  different  tribes,  and  many  of  which  bear  striking  proof  of  the  above 
fact.  Most  of  the  tribes  have  some  story  about  the  first  appearance  of  horses  ;  and 
amongst  the  Sioux,  they  have  beautifully  recorded  the  fact,  by  giving  it  the  name 
of  Shonk-a-wakon  (the  medicine-dog). 


67 


When  the  bugle  sounded  for  a  halt,  and  all  were  dismounted, 
Beatte  and  several  others  of  the  hunters  asked  permission  of  Col. 
Dodge  to  pursue  a  drove  of  horses  which  were  then  in  sight,  at  a 
distance  of  a  mile  or  more  from  us.  The  permission  was  given,  and 
they  started  off,  and  by  following  a  ravine,  approached  near  to  the 
unsuspecting  animals,  when  they  broke  upon  them  and  pursued  them 
for  several  miles  in  full  view  of  the  regiment.  Several  of  us  had 
good  glasses,  with  which  we  could  plainly  see  every  movement  and 
every  manoeuvre.  After  a  race  of  two  or  three  miles,  Beatte  was  seen 
with  his  wild  horse  down,  and  the  band  and  the  other  hunters  rapidly 
leaving  him. 

Seeing  him  in  this  condition,  I  galloped  off  to  him  as  rapidly  as 
possible,  and  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  the  whole  operation  of 
“breaking  down,”  and  bringing  in  the  wild  animal;  and  in  Fig.  162, 
I  have  given  a  fair  representation  of  the  mode  by  which  it  was  done. 
When  he  had  conquered  the  horse  in  this  way,  his  brother,  who  was 
one  of  the  unsuccessful  ones  in  the  chase,  came  riding  back,  and  lead¬ 
ing  up  the  horse  of  Beatte  which  he  had  left  behind,  and  after  staying 
with  us  a  few  minutes,  assisted  Beatte  in  leading  his  conquered  wild 
horse  towards  the  regiment,  where  it  was  satisfactorily  examined  and 
commented  upon,  as  it  was  trembling  and  covered  with  white  foam 
until  the  bugle  sounded  the  signal  for  marching,  when  all  mounted ; 
and  with  the  rest,  Beatte,  astride  of  his  wild  horse,  which  had  a 
buffalo  skin  girded  on  its  back,  and  a  halter,  with  a  cruel  noose  around 
under  the  under  jaw.  In  this  manner  the  command  resumed  its 
march,  and  Beatte  astride  of  his  wild  horse,  on  which  he  rode  quietly 
and  without  difficulty,  until  night ;  the  whole  thing,  the  capture,  and 
breaking,  all  having  been  accomplished  within  the  space  of  one  hour, 
our  usual  and  daily  halt  at  midday. 

Several  others  of  these  animals  were  caught  in  a  similar  manner 
during  our  march,  by  others  of  our  hunters,  affording  us  satisfactory 
instances  of  this  most  extraordinary  and  almost  unaccountable 
feat. 

The  horses  that  were  caught  were  by  no  means  very  valuable 
specimens,  being  rather  of  an  ordinary  quality;  and  I  saw  to  my 
perfect  satisfaction,  that  the  finest  of  these  droves  can  never  be 
obtained  in  this  way,  as  they  take  the  lead  at  once,  when  they  are 
pursued,  and  in  a  few  moments  will  be  seen  half  a  mile  or  more  ahead 
of  the  bulk  of  the  drove,  which  they  are  leading  off.  There  is  not  a 
doubt,  but  there  are  many  very  fine  and  valuable  horses  amongst 
these  herds ;  but  it  is  impossible  for  the  Indian  or  other  hunter  to 
take  them,  unless  it  be  done  by  “  creasing  ”  them,  as  I  have  before 


68 


described ;  which  is  often  done,  but  always  destroys  the  spirit  and 
character  of  the  animal. 

After  many  hard  and  tedious  days  of  travel,  we  were  at  last  told 
by  our  Camanchee  guides  that  we  were  near  their  village ;  and  having 
led  us  to  the  top  of  a  gently  rising  elevation  on  the  prairie,  they 
pointed  to  their  village  at  several  miles  distance,  in  the  midst  of  one 
of  the  most  enchanting  valleys  that  human  eyes  ever  looked  upon. 
The  general  course  of  the  valley  is  from  N.W.  to  S.E.,  of  several  miles 
in  width,  with  a  magnificent  range  of  mountains  rising  in  distance 
beyond ;  it  being,  without  doubt,  a  huge  “  spur  ”  of  the  Eocky  Moun¬ 
tains,  composed  entirely  of  a  reddish  granite  or  gneiss,  corresponding 
with  the  other  links  of  this  stupendous  chain.  In  the  midst  of  this 
lovely  valley,  we  could  just  discern  amongst  the  scattering  shrubbery 
that  lined  the  banks  of  the  water-courses,  the  tops  of  the  Camanchee 
wigwams,  and  the  smoke  curling  above  them.  The  valley,  for  a  mile 
distant  about  the  village,  seemed  speckled  with  horses  and  mules  that 
were  grazing  in  it.  The  chiefs  of  the  war-party  requested  the  regi¬ 
ment  to  halt,  until  they  could  ride  in,  and  inform  their  people  who 
were  coming.  We  then  dismounted  for  an  hour  or  so ;  when  we  could 
see  them  busily  running  and  catching  their  horses ;  and  at  length, 
several  hundreds  of  their  braves  and  warriors  came  out  at  full  speed 
to  welcome  us,  and  forming  in  a  line  in  front  of  us,  as  we  were  again 
mounted,  presented  a  formidable  and  pleasing  appearance  (Fig.  163). 
As  they  wheeled  their  horses,  they  very  rapidly  formed  in  a  line,  and 
“  dressed  ”  like  well-disciplined  cavalry.  The  regiment  was  drawn 
up  in  three  columns,  with  a  line  formed  in  front,  by  Colonel  Dodge 
and  his  staff,  in  which  rank  my  friend  Chadwick  and  I  were  also 
paraded ;  when  we  had  a  fine  view  of  the  whole  manoeuvre,  which 
was  picturesque  and  thrilling  in  the  extreme. 

In  the  centre  of  our  advance  was  stationed  a  white  flag,  and  the 
Indians  answered  to  it  with  one  which  they  sent  forward  and  planted 
by  the  side  of  it.* 

The  two  lines  were  thus  drawn  up,  face  to  face,  within  twenty 
or  thirty  yards  of  each  other,  as  inveterate  foes  that  never  had 
met;  and  to  the  everlasting  credit  of  the  Camanchees,  whom  the 

*  It  is  a  fact  which  I  deem  to  be  worth  noting  here,  that  amongst  all  Indian 
tribes,  that  I  have  yet  visited,  in  their  primitive,  as  well  as  improved  state,  the 
white  flag  is  used  as  a  flag  of  truce,  as  it  is  in  the  civilised  parts  of  the  world,  and 
held  to  be  sacred  and  inviolable.  The  chief  going  to  war  always  carries  it  in  some 
form  or  other,  generally  of  a  piece  of  white  skin  or  bark,  rolled  on  a  small  stick,  and 
carried  under  his  dress  or  otherwise ;  and  also  a  red  flag,  either  to  be  unfurled  when 
occasion  requires,  the  white  Hag  as  a  truce,  and  the  red  one  for  battle,  or,  as  they 
say,  “for  blood.” 


001 


69 


world  had  always  looked  upon  as  murderous  and  hostile,  they  had  all 
come  out  in  this  manner,  with  their  heads  uncovered,  and  without  a 
weapon  of  any  kind,  to  meet  a  war-party  bristling  with  arms,  and 
trespassing  to  the  middle  of  their  country.  They  had  every  reason 
to  look  upon  us  as  their  natural  enemy,  as  they  have  been  in  the 
habit  of  estimating  all  pale  faces ;  and  yet,  instead  of  arms  or  defences, 
or  even  of  frowns,  they  galloped  out  and  looked  us  in  our  faces,  with¬ 
out  an  expression  of  fear  or  dismay,  and  evidently  with  expressions 
of  joy  and  impatient  pleasure,  to  shake  us  by  the  hand,  on  the  bare 
assertion  of  Colonel  Dodge,  which  had  been  made  to  the  chiefs,  that 
“  we  came  to  see  them  on  a  friendly  visit.” 

After  we  had  sat  and  gazed  at  each  other  in  this  way  for  some 
half  an  hour  or  so,  the  head-chief  of  the  band  came  galloping  up  to 
Colonel  Dodge,  and  having  shaken  him  by  the  hand,  he  passed  on  to 
the  other  officers  in  turn,  and  then  rode  alongside  of  the  different 
columns,  shaking  hands  with  every  dragoon  in  the  regiment ;  he  was 
followed  in  this  by  his  principal  chiefs  and  braves,  which  altogether 
took  up  nearly  an  hour  longer,  when  the  Indians  retreated  slowly 
towards  their  village,  escorting  us  to  the  banks  of  a  fine  clear 
stream,  and  a  good  spring  of  fresh  water,  half  a  mile  from  their 
village,  which  they  designated  as  a  suitable  place  for  our  encamp¬ 
ment,  and  we  were  soon  bivouacked  at  the  place  from  which  I  am 
now  scribbling. 

No  sooner  were  we  encamped  here  (or,  in  other  words,  as  soon  as 
cur  things  were  thrown  upon  the  ground),  Major  Mason,  Lieutenant 
Wheelock,  Captain  Brown,  Captain  Duncan,  my  friend  Chadwick  and 
myself,  galloped  off  to  the  village,  and  through  it  in  the  greatest  im¬ 
patience  to  the  prairies,  where  there  were  at  least  three  thousand 
horses  and  mules  grazing ;  all  of  us  eager  and  impatient  to  see  and 
■to  appropriate  the  splendid  Arabian  horses,  which  we  had  so  often 
heard  were  owned  by  the  Camanchee  warriors.  We  galloped  around 
busily,  and  glanced  our  eyes  rapidly  over  them ;  and  all  soon  returned 
to  the  camp,  quite  “  crest-fallen  ”  and  satisfied,  that,  although  there 
were  some  tolerable  nags  amongst  this  medley  group  of  all  colours 
and  all  shapes,  the  beautiful  Arabian  we  had  so  often  heard  of 
at  the  East,  as  belonging  to  the  Camanchees,  must  either  be  a  great 
way  farther  South  than  this,  or  else  it  must  be  a  horse  of  the 
imagination. 

The  Camanchee  horses  are  generally  small,  all  of  them  being  of 
the  wild  breed,  and  a  very  tough  and  serviceable  animal ;  and  from 
what  I  can  learn  here  of  the  chiefs,  there  are  yet,  farther  South,  and 
nearer  the  Mexican  borders,  some  of  the  noblest  animals  in  use  of 


70 


the  chiefs,  yet  I  do  not  know  that  we  have  any  more  reason  to  rely 
upon  this  information,  than  that  which  had  made  our  horse-jockeys 
that  we  have  with  us,  to  run  almost  crazy  for  the  possession  of  those 
we  were  to  find  at  this  place.  Amongst  the  immense  herds  we  found 
grazing  here,  one  third  perhaps  are  mules,  which  are  much  more 
valuable  than  the  horses. 

Of  the  horses,  the  officers  and  men  have  purchased  a  number  of 
the  best,  by  giving  a  very  inferior  blanket  and  butcher’s  knife,  cost¬ 
ing  in  all  about  four  dollars !  These  horses  in  our  cities  at  the  East, 
independent  of  the  name,  putting  them  upon  their  merits  alone, 
would  be  worth  from  eighty  to  one  hundred  dollars  each,  and  not 
more. 

A  vast  many  of  such  could  be  bought  on  such  terms,  and  are 
hourly  brought  into  camp  for  sale.  If  we  had  goods  to  trade  for 
them,  and  means  of  getting  them  home,  a  great  profit  could  be  made, 
which  can  easily  be  learned  from  the  following  transaction  that  took 
place  yesterday.  A  fine-looking  Indian  was  hanging  about  my  tent 
very  closely  for  several  days,  and  continually  scanning  an  old  and 
half-worn  cotton  umbrella,  which  I  carried  over  me  to  keep  off  the 
sun,  as  I  was  suffering  with  fever  and  ague,  and  at  last  proposed  to 
purchase  it  of  me,  with  a  very  neat  limbed  and  pretty  pied  horse 
which  he  was  riding.  He  proposed  at  first,  that  I  should  give  him 
a  knife  and  the  umbrella,  but  as  I  was  not  disposed  for  the  trade 
(the  umbrella  being  so  useful  an  article  to  me,  that  I  did  not  know 
how  to  part  with  it,  not  knowing  whether  there  was  another  in  the 
regiment) ;  he  came  a  second  time,  and  offered  me  the  horse  for  the 
umbrella  alone,  which  offer  I  still  rejected;  and  he  went  back  to 
the  village,  and  soon  returned  with  another  horse  of  a  much  better 
quality,  supposing  that  I  had  not  valued  the  former  one  equal  te 
the  umbrella. 

With  this  he  endeavoured  to  push  the  trade,  and  after  I  had 
with  great  difficulty  made  him  understand  that  I  was  sick,  and 
could  not  part  with  it,  he  turned  and  rode  back  towards  the  village, 
and  in  a  short  time  returned  again  with  one  of  the  largest  and  finest 
mules  I  ever  saw,  proposing  that,  which  I  also  rejected ;  when  he 
disappeared  again. 

In  a  few  moments  my  friend  Captain  Duncan,  in  whose  hospitable 
tent  I  was  quartered,  came  in,  and  the  circumstance  being  related 
to  him,  started  up  some  warm  jockey  feelings,  which  he  was 
thoroughly  possessed  of,  when  he  instantly  sprang  upon  his  feet, 
and  exclaimed,  “  d — mn  the  fellow !  where  is  he  gone  ?  here, 
Gosset !  get  my  old  umbrella  out  of  the  pack,  I  rolled  it  up  with 


71 


my  wiper  and  the  frying-pan — get  it  as  quick  as  lightning  !  ”  with 
it  in  his  hand  the  worthy  Captain  soon  overtook  the  young  man, 
and  escorted  him  into  the  village,  and  returned  in  a  short  time — 
not  with  the  mule,  but  with  the  second  horse  that  had  been  offered 
to  me. 


LETTER— No.  42 


GREAT  CAMANCIIEE  VILLAGE 

The  village  of  the  Camanchees  by  the  side  of  which  we  are  encamped 
is  composed  of  six  or  eight  hundred  skin-covered  lodges,  made  of 
poles  and  buffalo  skins,  in  the  manner  precisely  as  those  of  the 
Sioux  and  other  Missouri  tribes,  of  which  I  have  heretofore  given 
some  account.  This  village  with  its  thousands  of  wild  inmates,  with 
horses  and  dogs,  and  wild  sports  and  domestic  occupations,  presents  a 
most  curious  scene ;  and  the  manners  and  looks  of  the  people,  a  rich 
subject  for  the  brush  and  the  pen. 

In  the  view  I  have  made  of  it  (Fig.  164),  but  a  small  portion 
of  the  village  is  shown ;  which  is  as  well  as  to  show  the  whole  of 
it,  inasmuch  as  the  wigwams,  as  well  as  the  customs,  are  the  same 
in  every  part  of  it.  In  the  foreground  is  seen  the  wigwam  of  the 
chief ;  and  in  various  parts  crotches  and  poles,  on  which  the  women 
are  drying  meat,  and  “  graining  ”  buffalo  robes.  These  people,  living 
in  a  country  where  buffaloes  are  abundant,  make  their  wigwams 
more  easily  of  their  skins  than  of  anything  else;  and  with  them 
find  greater  facilities  of  moving  about,  as  circumstances  often  require ; 
when  they  drag  them  upon  the  poles  attached  to  their  horses,  and 
erect  them  again  with  little  trouble  in  their  new  residence. 

We  white  men,  strolling  about  amongst  their  wigwams,  are 
looked  upon  with  as  much  curiosity  as  if  we  had  come  from  the 
moon ;  and  evidently  create  a  sort  of  chill  in  the  blood  of  children 
and  dogs,  when  we  make  our  appearance.  I  was  pleased  to-day  with 
the  simplicity  of  a  group  which  came  out  in  front  of  the  chief’s 
lodge  to  scrutinise  my  faithful  friend  Chadwick  and  I,  as  we  were 
strolling  about  the  avenues  and  labyrinths  of  their  village;  upon 
which  I  took  out  my  book  and  sketched  as  quick  as  lightning,  whilst 
“Joe”  riveted  their  attention  by  some  ingenious  trick  or  other, 
over  my  shoulders,  which  I  did  not  see,  having  no  time  to  turn  my 
head  (Fig.  165).  These  wero  the  juvenile  parts  of  the  chief’s  family, 
and  all  who  at  this  moment  were  at  home ;  the  venerable  old  man, 
and  his  three  or  four  wives,  making  a  visit,  like  hundreds  of  others, 
to  the  encampment. 

In  speaking  just  above,  of  the  mode  of  moving  their  wigwams, 

72 


Cud '.Lin- 


Wl 


73 


and  changing  their  encampments,  I  should  have  said  a  little  more, 
and  should  also  have  given  to  the  reader,  a  sketch  of  one  of  these 
extraordinary  scenes,  which  I  have  had  the  good  luck  to  witness 
(Fig.  166) ;  where  several  thousands  were  on  the  march,  and  furnish¬ 
ing  one  of  those  laughable  scenes  which  daily  happen,  where  so 
many  dogs,  and  so  many  squaws,  are  travelling  in  such  a  confused 
mass;  with  so  many  conflicting  interests,  and  so  many  local  and 
individual  rights  to  be  pertinaciously  claimed  and  protected.  Each 
horse  drags  his  load,  and  each  dog,  i.e.  each  dog  that  will  do  it  (and 
there  are  many  that  will  not),  also  dragging  his  wallet  on  a  couple 
of  poles ;  and  each  squaw  with  her  load,  and  all  together  (notwith¬ 
standing  their  burthens)  cherishing  their  pugnacious  feelings,  which 
often  bring  them  into  general  conflict,  commencing  usually  amongst 
the  dogs,  and  sure  to  result  in  fisticuffs  of  the  women ;  whilst  the 
men,  riding  leisurely  on  the  right  or  the  left,  take  infinite  pleasure 
in  overlooking  these  desperate  conflicts,  at  which  they  are  sure  to 
have  a  laugh,  and  in  which,  as  sure  never  to  lend  a  hand. 

The  Camanchees,  like  the  Northern  tribes,  have  many  games,  and 
in  pleasant  weather  seem  to  be  continually  practising  more  or  less  of 
them,  on  the  prairies,  back  of,  and  contiguous  to,  their  village. 

In  their  ball-plays,  and  some  other  games,  they  are  far  behind  the 
Sioux  and  others  of  the  Northern  tribes ;  but,  in  racing  horses  and 
riding,  they  are  not  equalled  by  any  other  Indians  on  the  continent. 
Eacing  horses,  it  would  seem,  is  a  constant  and  almost  incessant  exer¬ 
cise,  and  their  principal  mode  of  gambling;  and  perhaps,  a  more 
finished  set  of  jockeys  are  not  to  be  found.  The  exercise  of  these 
people,  in  a  country  where  horses  are  so  abundant,  and  the  country  so 
fine  for  riding,  is  chiefly  done  on  horseback  ;  and  it  “  stands  to  reason  ” 
that  such  a  people,  who  have  been  practising  from  their  childhood, 
should  become  exceedingly  expert  in  this  wholesome  and  beautiful 
exercise.  Amongst  their  feats  of  riding,  there  is  one  that  has  aston¬ 
ished  me  more  than  anything  of  the  kind  I  have  ever  seen,  or  expect 
to  see,  in  my  life : — a  stratagem  of  war,  learned  and  practised  by  every 
young  man  in  the  tribe ;  by  which  he  is  able  to  drop  his  body  upon 
the  side  of  his  horse  at  the  instant  he  is  passing,  effectually  screened 
from  his  enemies’  weapons  (Fig.  167)  as  he  lies  in  a  horizontal  posi¬ 
tion  behind  the  body  of  his  horse,  with  his  heel  hanging  over  the 
horse’s  back ;  by  which  he  has  the  power  of  throwing  himself  up  again, 
and  changing  to  the  other  side  of  the  horse  if  necessary.  In  this  won¬ 
derful  condition,  he  will  hang  whilst  his  horse  is  at  fullest  speed, 
carrying  with  him  his  bow  and  his  shield,  and  also  his  long  lance  of 
fourteen  feet  in  length,  all  or  either  of  which  he  will  wield  upon  his 

E* 


74 


enemy  as  lie  passes ;  rising  and  throwing  his  arrows  over  the  horse’s 
back,  or  with  equal  ease  and  equal  success  under  the  horse’s  neck.* 
This  astonishing  feat,  which  the  young  men  have  been  repeatedly 
playing  off  to  our  surprise  as  well  as  amusement,  whilst  they  have 
been  galloping  about  in  front  of  our  tents,  completely  puzzled  the 
whole  of  us ;  and  appeared  to  be  the  result  of  magic,  rather  than  of 
skill  acquired  by  practice.  I  had  several  times  great  curiosity  to 
approach  them,  to  ascertain  by  what  means  their  bodies  could  be  sus¬ 
pended  in  this  manner,  where  nothing  could  be  seen  but  the  heel 
hanging  over  the  horse’s  back.  In  these  endeavours  I  was  continually 
frustrated,  until  one  day  I  coaxed  a  young  fellow  up  within  a  little 
distance  of  me,  by  offering  him  a  few  plugs  of  tobacco,  and  he  in  a 
moment  solved  the  difficulty,  so  far  as  to  render  it  apparently  more 
feasible  than  before ;  yet  leaving  it  one  of  the  most  extraordinary 
results  of  practice  and  persevering  endeavours.  I  found  on  exami¬ 
nation,  that  a  short  hair  halter  was  passed  around  under  the  neck 
of  the  horse,  and  both  ends  tightly  braided  into  the  mane,  on  the 
withers,  leaving  a  loop  to  hang  under  the  neck,  and  against  the  breast, 
which,  being  caught  up  in  the  hand,  makes  a  sling  into  which  the 
elbow  falls,  taking  the  weight  of  the  body  on  the  middle  of  the  upper 
arm.  Into  this  loop  the  rider  drops  suddenly  and  fearlessly,  leaving 
his  heel  to  hang  over  the  back  of  the  horse,  to  steady  him,  and  also  to 
restore  him  when  he  wishes  to  regain  his  upright  position  on  the 
horse’s  back. 

Besides  this  wonderful  art,  these  people  have  several  other  feats 
of  horsemanship,  which  they  are  continually  showing  off;  which  are 
pleasing  and  extraordinary,  and  of  which  they  seem  very  proud.  A 
people  who  spend  so  very  great  a  part  of  their  lives,  actually  on  their 
horses’  backs,  must  needs  become  exceedingly  expert  in  everything 
that  pertains  to  riding — to  war,  or  to  the  chase ;  and  I  am  ready,  with¬ 
out  hesitation,  to  pronounce  the  Camanchees  the  most  extraordinary 
horsemen  that  I  have  seen  yet  in  all  my  travels,  and  I  doubt  very 
much  whether  any  people  in  the  world  can  surpass  them. 

The  Camanchees  are  in  stature,  rather  low,  and  in  person,  often 
approaching  to  corpulency.  In  their  movements,  they  are  heavy  and 
ungraceful ;  and  on  their  feet,  one  of  the  most  unattractive  and 
slovenly-looking  races  of  Indians  that  I  have  ever  seen ;  but  the 

*  Since  writing  the  above,  I  have  conversed  with  some  of  the  young  men  of  the 
Pawnees,  who  practice  the  same  feat,  and  who  told  me  they  could  throw  the  arrow 
from  under  the  horse’s  belly,  and  elevate  it  upon  an  enemy  with  deadly  effect ! 

This  feat  I  did  not  see  performed,  but  from  what  I  did  see,  I  feel  inclined  to 
believe  that  these  young  men  were  boasting  of  no  more  than  they  were  able  to 
perform. 


75 


moment  they  mount  their  horses,  they  seem  at  once  metamorphosed, 
and  surprise  the  spectator  with  the  ease  and  elegance  of  their  move¬ 
ments.  A  Camanchee  on  his  feet  is  out  of  his  element,  and  compara¬ 
tively  almost  as  awkward  as  a  monkey  on  the  ground,  without  a  limb 
or  a  branch  to  cling  to ;  but  the  moment  he  lays  his  hand  upon  his 
horse,  his  face,  even,  becomes  handsome,  and  he  gracefully  flies  away 
like  a  different  being. 

Our  encampment  is  surrounded  by  continual  swarms  of  old  and 
young — of  middle  aged — of  male  and  female — of  dogs,  and  every  mov¬ 
ing  thing  that  constitutes  their  community ;  and  our  tents  are  lined 
with  the  chiefs  and  other  worthies  of  the  tribe.  So  it  will  be  seen 
there  is  no  difficulty  of  getting  subjects  enough  for  my  brush,  as  well 
as  for  my  pen,  whilst  residing  in  this  place. 

The  head-chief  of  this  village,  who  is  represented  to  us  here  as  the 
head  of  the  nation,  is  a  mild  and  pleasant  looking  gentleman,  with¬ 
out  anything  striking  or  peculiar  in  his  looks  (Fig.  168)  ;  dressed  in 
a  very  humble  manner,  with  very  few  ornaments  upon  him,  and  his 
hair  carelessly  falling  about  his  face,  and  over  his  shoulders.  The 
name  of  this  chief  is  Ee-shah-ko-nee  (the  bow  and  quiver).  The 
only  ornaments  to  be  seen  about  him  were  a  couple  of  beautiful 
shells  worn  in  his  ears,  and  a  boar’s  tusk  attached  to  his  neck,  and 
worn  on  his  breast. 

For  several  days  after  we  arrived  at  this  place,  there  was  a  huge 
mass  of  flesh  (Fig.  169),  Ta-wah-que-nah  (the  mountain  of  rocks), 
who  was  put  forward  as  head-chief  of  the  tribe;  and  all  honours 
were  being  paid  to  him  by  the  regiment  of  dragoons,  until  the  above- 
mentioned  chief  arrived  from  the  country,  where  it  seems  he  was 
leading  a  war-party;  and  had  been  sent  for,  no  doubt,  on  the 
occasion.  When  he  arrived,  this  huge  monster,  who  is  the  largest 
and  fattest  Indian  I  ever  saw,  stepped  quite  into  the  background, 
giving  way  to  this  admitted  chief,  who  seemed  to  have  the  confidence 
and  respect  of  the  whole  tribe. 

This  enormous  man,  whose  flesh  would  undoubtedly  weigh  three 
hundred  pounds  or  more,  took  the  most  wonderful  strides  in  the 
exercise  of  his  temporary  authority;  which,  in  all  probability,  he 
was  lawfully  exercising  in  the  absence  of  his  superior,  as  second 
chief  of  the  tribe. 

A  perfect  personation  of  Jack  Falstaff,  in  size  and  in  figure,  with 
an  African  face,  and  a  beard  on  his  chin  of  two  or  three  inches  in 
length.  His  name,  he  tells  me,  he  got  from  having  conducted  a 
large  party  of  Camanchees  through  a  secret  and  subterraneous 
passage,  entirely  through  the  mountain  of  granite  rocks,  which  lies 


76 


back  of  their  village;  thereby  saving  their  lives  from  their  more 
powerful  enemy,  who  had  “  cornered  them  up  ”  in  such  a  way,  that 
there  was  no  other  possible  mode  for  their  escape.  The  mountain 
under  which  he  conducted  them,  is  called  Ta-wah-que-nah  (the 
mountain  of  rocks),  and  from  this  he  has  received  his  name,  which 
would  certainly  have  been  far  more  appropriate  if  it  had  been  a 
mountain  of  flesh. 

Corpulency  is  a  thing  exceedingly  rare  to  be  found  in  any  of  the 
tribes,  amongst  the  men,  owing,  probably,  to  the  exposed  and  active 
sort  of  lives  they  lead ;  and  that  in  the  absence  of  all  the  species  of 
life,  many  of  which  have  their  effect  in  producing  this  disgusting,  as 
well  as  unhandy  and  awkward  extravagance  in  civilised  society. 

Ish-a-ro-yeh  (he  who  carries  a  wolf,  Fig.  170);  and  Is-sa-wah- 
tam-ah  (the  wolf  tied  with  hair,  Fig.  171);  are  also  chiefs  of  some 
standing  in  the  tribe,  and  evidently  men  of  great  influence,  as  they 
were  put  forward  by  the  head-chiefs,  for  their  likenesses  to  be 
painted  in  turn,  after  their  own.  The  first  of  the  two  seemed  to  be 
the  leader  of  the  war-party  which  we  met,  and  of  which  I  have 
spoken ;  and  in  escorting  us  to  their  village,  this  man  took  the  lead 
and  piloted  us  the  whole  way,  in  consequence  of  which  Colonel  Dodge 
presented  him  a  very  fine  gun. 

His-oo-san-ches  (the  Spaniard,  Fig.  172),  a  gallant  little  fellow,  is 
represented  to  us  as  one  of  the  leading  warriors  of  the  tribe ;  and  no 
doubt  is  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  men  at  present  living  in 
these  regions.  He  is  half  Spanish,  and  being  a  half-breed,  for  whom 
they  generally  have  the  most  contemptuous  feelings,  he  has  been  all 
his  life  thrown  into  the  front  of  battle  and  danger ;  at  which  posts 
he  has  signalised  himself,  and  commanded  the  highest  admiration 
and  respect  of  the  tribe,  for  his  daring  and  adventurous  career. 
This  is  the  man  of  whom  I  have  before  spoken,  who  dashed  out  so 
boldly  from  the  war-party,  and  came  to  us  with  the  white  flag  raised 
on  the  point  of  his  lance,  and  of  whom  I  have  made  a  sketch  in  Fig. 
157.  I  have  here  represented  him  as  he  stood  for  me,  with  his 
shield  on  his  arm,  with  his  quiver  slung,  and  his  lance  of  fourteen 
feet  in  length  in  his  right  hand.  This  extraordinary  little  man, 
whose  figure  was  light,  seemed  to  be  all  bone  and  muscle,  and 
exhibited  immense  power,  by  the  curve  of  the  bones  in  his  legs  and 
his  arms.  We  had  many  exhibitions  of  his  extraordinary  strength, 
as  well  as  agility ;  and  of  his  gentlemanly  politeness  and  friendship, 
we  had  as  frequent  evidences.  As  an  instance  of  this,  I  will  recite 
an  occurrence  which  took  place  but  a  few  days  since,  when  we  were 
moving  our  encampment  to  a  more  desirable  ground  on  another  side 


77 


of  their  village.  We  had  a  deep  and  powerful  stream  to  ford,  when 
we  had  several  men  who  were  sick,  and  obliged  to  be  carried  on 
litters.  My  friend  “Joe”  and  I  came  up  in  the  rear  of  the  regiment, 
where  the  litters  with  the  sick  were  passing,  and  we  found  this  little 
fellow  up  to  his  chin  in  the  muddy  water,  wading  and  carrying  one 
end  of  each  litter  on  his  head,  as  they  were  in  turn,  passed  over. 
After  they  had  all  passed,  this  gallant  little  fellow  beckoned  to  me 
to  dismount,  and  take  a  seat  on  his  shoulders,  which  I  declined; 
preferring  to  stick  to  my  horse’s  back,  which  I  did,  as  he  took  it  by 
the  bridle  and  conducted  it  through  the  shallowest  ford.  When  I 
was  across,  I  took  from  my  belt  a  handsome  knife  and  presented  it 
to  him,  which  seemed  to  please  him  very  much. 

Besides  the  above-named  chiefs  and  warriors,  I  painted  the 
portrait  of  Kots-o-lco-ro-ko  (the  hair  of  the  bull’s  neck) ;  and  Hah-nee 
(the  beaver) ;  the  first,  a  chief,  and  the  second,  a  warrior  of  terrible 
aspect,  and  also  of  considerable  distinction.  These  and  many  other 
paintings,  as  well  as  manufactures  from  this  tribe,  may  be  always 
seen  in  my  Museum,  if  I  have  the  good  luck  to  get  them  safe  home 
from  this  wild  and  remote  region. 

From  what  I  have  already  seen  of  the  Camanchees,  I  am  fully 
convinced  that  they  are  a  numerous  and  very  powerful  tribe,  and 
quite  equal  in  numbers  and  prowess,  to  the  accounts  generally  given 
of  them. 

It  is  entirely  impossible  at  present  to  make  a  correct  estimate  of 
their  numbers ;  but  taking  their  own  account  of  villages  they  point 
to  in  such  numbers,  south  of  the  banks  of  the  Bed  Biver,  as  well  as 
those  that  lie  farther  west,  and  undoubtedly  north  of  its  banks, 
they  must  be  a  very  numerous  tribe ;  and  I  think  I  am  able  to  say, 
from  estimates  that  these  chiefs  have  made  me,  that  they  number  some 
30,000  or  40,000 — being  able  to  show  some  6000  or  7000  warriors, 
well-mounted  and  well-armed.  This  estimate  I  offer  not  as  con¬ 
clusive,  for  so  little  is  as  yet  known  of  these  people,  that  no  estimate 
can  be  implicitly  relied  upon  other  than  that,  which,  in  general 
terms,  pronounces  them  to  be  a  very  numerous  and  warlike  tribe. 

We  shall  learn  much  more  of  them  before  we  get  out  of  their 
country ;  and  I  trust  that  it  will  yet  be  in  my  power  to  give  some¬ 
thing  like  a  fair  census  of  them  before  we  have  done  with  them. 

They  speak  much  of  their  allies  and  friends,  the  Pawnee  Piets, 
living  to  the  west  some  three  or  four  days’  march,  whom  we  are 
going  to  visit  in  a  few  days,  and  afterwards  return  to  this  village, 
and  then  “  bend  our  course  ”  homeward,  or,  in  other  words,  back  to 
Fort  Gibson.  Besides  the  Pawnee  Piets,  there  are  the  Kioways  and 


78 


Wicos ;  small  tribes  that  live  in  the  same  vicinity,  and  also  in  the 
same  alliance,  whom  we  shall  probably  see  on  our  march.  Every 
preparation  is  now  making  to  be  off  in  a  few  days — and  I  shall  omit 
further  remarks  on  the  Camanchees,  until  we  return,  when  I  shall 
probably  have  much  more  to  relate  of  them  and  their  customs.  So 
many  of  the  men  and  officers  are  getting  sick,  that  the  little  command 
will  be  very  much  crippled,  from  the  necessity  we  shall  be  under,  of 
leaving  about  thirty  sick,  and  about  an  equal  number  of  well  to  take 
care  of  and  protect  them ;  for  which  purpose,  we  are  constructing  a 
fort,  with  a  sort  of  breastwork  of  timbers  and  bushes,  which  will  be 
ready  in  a  day  or  two ;  and  the  sound  part  of  the  command  prepared 
to  start  with  several  Camanchee  leaders,  who  have  agreed  to  pilot 
the  way. 


LOT 


LETTEE — Ho.  43 


GREAT  CAMANCHEE  VILLAGE 

The  above  Letter  it  will  be  seen,  was  written  some  time  ago,  and 
when  all  hands  (save  those  who  were  too  sick)  were  on  the  start  for 
the  Pawnee  village.  Amongst  those  exceptions  was  I,  before  the 
hour  of  starting  had  arrived;  and  as  the  dragoons  have  made  their 
visit  there  and  returned  in  a  most  jaded  condition,  and  I  have  again 
got  well  enough  to  write,  I  will  render  some  account  of  the  excursion, 
which  is  from  the  pen  and  the  pencil  of  my  friend  Joe,  who  went 
with  them  and  took  my  sketch-  and  note-books  in  his  pocket. 

“  We  were  four  days  travelling  over  a  beautiful  country,  most  of 
the  way  prairie,  and  generally  along  near  the  base  of  a  stupendous 
range  of  mountains  of  reddish  granite,  in  many  places  piled  up  to  an 
immense  height  without  tree  or  shrubbery  on  them ;  looking  as  if 
they  had  actually  dropped  from  the  clouds  in  such  a  confused  mass, 
and  all  lay  where  they  had  fallen.  Such  we  found  the  mountains 
enclosing  the  Pawnee  village,  on  the  bank  of  Eed  Eiver,  about  ninety 
miles  from  the  Camanchee  town.  The  dragoon  regiment  was  drawn 
up  within  half  a  mile  or  so  of  this  village,  and  encamped  in  a  square, 
where  we  remained  three  days.  We  found  here  a  very  numerous 
village,  containing  same  five  or  six  hundred  wigwams,  all  made  of 
long  prairie  grass,  thatched  over  poles  which  are  fastened  in  the 
ground  and  bent  in  at  the  top;  giving  to  them,  in  distance,  the 
appearance  of  straw  beehives,  as  in  Fig.  173,  which  is  an  accurate 
view  of  it,  showing  the  Eed  Eiver  in  front,  and  the  ‘  mountains  of 
rocks  ’  behind  it. 

“  To  our  very  great  surprise,  we  have  found  these  people  culti¬ 
vating  quite  extensive  fields  of  corn  (maize),  pumpkins,  melons,  beans, 
and  squashes;  so,  with  these  aids,  and  an  abundant  supply  of  buffalo 
meat,  they  may  be  said  to  be  living  very  well. 

“The  next  day  after  our  arrival  here,  Colonel  Dodge  opened  a 
council  with  the  chiefs,  in  the  chief’s  lodge,  where  he  had  the  most 
of  his  officers  around  him.  He  first  explained  to  them  the  friendly 
views  with  which  he  came  to  see  them;  and  of  the  wish  of  our 
Government  to  establish  a  lasting  peace  with  them,  which  they  seemed 
at  once  to  appreciate  and  highly  to  estimate. 

79 


80 


“  The  head-chief  of  the  tribe  is  a  very  old  man,  and  he  several 
times  replied  to  Colonel  Dodge  in  a  very  eloquent  manner ;  assuring 
him  of  the  friendly  feelings  of  his  chiefs  and  wari’iors  towards  the 
pale  faces,  in  the  direction  from  whence  we  came. 

“  After  Colonel  Dodge  had  explained  in  general  terms,  the  objects 
of  our  visit,  he  told  them  that  he  should  expect  from  them  some 
account  of  the  foul  murder  of  Judge  Martin  and  his  family  on  the 
False  Washita,  which  had  been  perpetrated  but  a  few  weeks  before, 
and  which  the  Camanchees  had  told  us  was  done  by  the  Pawnee 
Piets.  The  Colonel  told  them,  also,  that  he  learned  from  the  Ca¬ 
manchees,  that  they  had  the  little  boy,  the  son  of  the  murdered 
gentleman,  in  their  possession ;  and  that  he  should  expect  them  to 
deliver  him  up,  as  an  indispensable  condition  of  the  friendly  arrange¬ 
ment  that  was  now  making.  They  positively  denied  the  fact,  and 
all  knowledge  of  it ;  firmly  assuring  us  that  they  knew  nothing  of 
the  murder,  or  of  the  boy.  The  demand  was  repeatedly  made,  and 
as  often  denied ;  until  at  length  a  negro-man  was  discovered,  who 
was  living  with  the  Pawnees,  who  spoke  good  English;  aud  coming 
into  the  council-house,  gave  information  that  such  a  boy  had  recently 
been  brought  into  their  village,  and  was  now  a  prisoner  amongst 
them.  This  excited  great  surprise  and  indignation  in  the  council, 
and  Colonel  Dodge  then  informed  the  chiefs  that  the  council  would 
would  rest  here  ;  and  certainly  nothing  further  of  a  peaceable  nature 
would  transpire  until  the  boy  was  brought  in.  In  this  alarming 
dilemma,  all  remained  in  gloomy  silence  for  awhile;  when  Colonel 
Dodge  further  informed  the  chiefs,  that  as  an  evidence  of  his  friendly 
intentions  towards  them,  he  had,  on  starting,  purchased  at  a  very 
great  price,  from  their  enemies  the  Osages,  two  Pawnee  (and 
one  Kioway)  girls  ;  which  had  been  held  by  them  for  some  years  as 
prisoners,  and  which  he  had  brought  the  whole  way  home,  and  had 
here  ready  to  be  delivered  to  their  friends  and  relations ;  but  whom 
he  certainly  would  never  show,  until  the  little  boy  was  produced. 
He  also  made  another  demand,  which  was  for  the  restoration  of  an 
United  States  ranger,  by  the  name  of  Abbe,  who  had  been  captured 
by  them  during  the  summer  before.  They  acknowledged  the  seizure 
of  this  man,  and  all  solemnly  declared  that  he  had  been  taken  by  a 
party  of  the  Camanchees,  over  whom  they  had  no  control,  and 
carried  beyond  the  Eed  Eiver  into  the  Mexican  provinces,  where  he 
was  put  to  death.  They  held  a  long  consultation  about  the  boy,  and 
seeing  their  plans  defeated  by  the  evidence  of  the  negro ;  and  also 
being  convinced  of  the  friendly  disposition  of  the  Colonel,  by  bringing 
home  their  prisoners  from  the  Osages,  they  sent  out  and  had  the  boy 


81 


brought  in,  from  the  middle  of  a  corn-field,  where  he  had  been 
secreted.  He  is  a  smart  and  very  intelligent  boy  of  nine  years  of 
age,  and  when  he  came  in,  he  was  entirely  naked,  as  they  keep  their 
own  boys  of  that  age.  There  was  a  great  excitement  in  the  council 
when  the  little  fellow  was  brought  in ;  and  as  he  passed  amongst 
them,  he  looked  around  and  exclaimed  with  some  surprise,  ‘  What ! 
are  there  white  men  here  ?  ’  to  which  Colonel  Dodge  replied,  and 
asked  his  name ;  and  he  promptly  answered,  ‘  My  name  is  Matthew 
Wright  Martin.’  He  was  then  received  into  Colonel  Dodge’s  arms  ; 
and  an  order  was  immediately  given  for  the  Pawnee  and  Kioway  girls 
to  be  brought  forward ;  they  were  in  a  few  minutes  brought  into 
the  council-house,  when  they  were  at  once  recognised  by  their  friends 
and  relatives,  who  embraced  them  with  the  most  extravagant  ex¬ 
pressions  of  joy  and  satisfaction.  The  heart  of  the  venerable  old 
chief  was  melted  at  this  evidence  of  white  man’s  friendship,  and 
he  rose  upon  his  feet,  and  taking  Colonel  Dodge  in  his  arms,  and 
placing  his  left  cheek  against  the  left  cheek  of  the  Colonel,  held  him 
for  some  minutes  without  saying  a  word,  whilst  tears  were  flowing 
from  his  eyes.  He  then  embraced  each  officer  in  turn,  in  the  same 
silent  and  affectionate  manner ;  which  form  took  half  an  hour  or 
more,  before  it  was  completed.* 

“  From  this  moment  the  council,  which  before  had  been  a  very 
grave  and  uncertain  one,  took  a  pleasing  and  friendly  turn.  And 
this  excellent  old  man  ordered  the  women  to  supply  the  dragoons 
with  something  to  eat,  as  they  were  hungry. 

“  The  little  encampment,  which  heretofore  was  in  a  woeful 
condition,  having  eaten  up  their  last  rations  twelve  hours  before, 
were  now  gladdened  by  the  approach  of  a  number  of  women,  who 
brought  their  ‘  back-loads  ’  of  dried  buffalo  meat  and  green  corn,  and 
threw  it  down  amongst  them.  This  seemed  almost  like  a  providential 
deliverance,  for  the  country  between  here  and  the  Camanchees,  was 
entirely  destitute  of  game,  and  our  last  provisions  were  consumed. 

“  The  council  thus  proceeded  successfully  and  pleasantly  for  several 
days,  whilst  the  warriors  of  the  Kioways  and  Wicos,  two  adjoining 
and  friendly  tribes  living  further  to  the  west,  were  arriving;  and 
also  a  great  many  from  other  bands  of  the  Camanchees,  who  had 
heard  of  our  arrival ;  until  two  thousand  or  more  of  these  wild  and 

*  The  little  boy  of  whom  I  have  spoken,  was  brought  in  the  whole  distance  to 
Fort  Gibson,  in  the  arms  of  the  dragoons,  who  took  turns  in  carrying  him  ;  and 
after  the  command  arrived  there,  he  was  transmitted  to  the  Red  River  by  an 
officer,  who  had  the  enviable  satisfaction  of  delivering  him  into  the  arms  of  his 
disconsolate  and  half-distracted  mother. 

VOL.  II. 


F 


82 


fearless-looking  fellows  were  assembled,  and  all,  from  their  horses’ 
backs,  with  weapons  in  hand,  were  looking  into  our  pitiful  little 
encampment,  of  two  hundred  men,  all  in  a  state  of  dependence  and 
almost  literal  starvation ;  and  at  the  same  time  nearly  one-half  the 
number  too  sick  to  have  made  a  successful  resistance  if  we  were  to 
have  been  attacked.”  *  *  *  *  * 

The  command  returned  to  this  village  after  an  absence  of  fifteen 
days,  in  a  fatigued  and  destitute  condition,  with  scarcely  anything  to 
eat,  or  chance  of  getting  anything  here ;  in  consequence  of  which, 
Colonel  Dodge  almost  instantly  ordered  preparations  to  be  made  for 
a  move  to  the  head  of  the  Canadian  Eiver,  a  distance  of  an  hundred 
or  more  miles,  where  the  Indians  represented  to  us  there  would  be 
found  immense  herds  of  buffaloes ;  a  place  where  we  could  get  enough 
to  eat,  and  by  lying  by  awhile  could  restore  the  sick,  who  are  now 
occupying  a  great  number  of  litters.  Some  days  have  elapsed,  how¬ 
ever,  and  we  are  not  quite  ready  for  the  start  yet.  And  during  that 
time,  continual  parties  of  the  Pawnee  Piets  and  Kioways  have  come 
up ;  and  also  Camanchees,  from  other  villages,  to  get  a  look  at  us, 
and  many  of  them  are  volunteering  to  go  in  with  us  to  the  frontier. 

The  world  who  know  me,  will  see  that  I  can  scarcely  be  idle 
under  such  circumstances  as  these,  where  so  many  subjects  for  my 
brush  and  my  pen  are  gathering  about  me. 

The  Pawnee  Piets,  Kioways,  and  Wicos  are  the  subjects  that  I 
am  most  closely  scanning  at  this  moment,  and  I  have  materials 
enough  around  me. 

The  Pawnee  Piets  are  undoubtedly  a  numerous  and  powerful 
tribe,  occupying,  with  the  Kioways  and  Wicos,  the  whole  country 
on  the  head  waters  of  the  Eed  Eiver,  and  quite  into  and  through 
the  southern  part  of  the  Eocky  Mountains.  The  old  chief  told  me 
by  signs,  enumerating  with  his  hands  and  fingers,  that  they  had 
altogether  three  thousand  warriors ;  which  if  true,  estimating  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  usual  rule,  one  warrior  to  four,  would  make  the  whole 
number  about  twelve  thousand ;  and,  allowing  a  fair  percentage  for 
boasting  or  bragging,  of  which  they  are  generally  a  little  guilty  in 
such  cases,  there  would  be  at  a  fair  calculation  from  eight  to  ten 
thousand.  These  then,  in  an  established  alliance  with  the  great 
tribe  of  Camanchees,  hunting  and  feasting  together,  and  ready  to 
join  in  common  defence  of  their  country,  become  a  very  formidable 
enemy  when  attacked  on  their  own  ground. 

The  name  of  the  Pawnee  Piets,  we  find  to  be  in  their  own 
language,  Tow-ee-ahge,  the  meaning  of  which  I  have  not  yet  learned. 


1U& 


174  175 


176 


177 


83 


I  have  ascertained  also,  that  these  people  are  in  no  way  related  to 
the  Pawnees  of  the  Platte,  who  reside  a  thousand  miles  or  more 
north  of  them,  and  know  them  only  as  enemies.  There  is  no  family 
or  tribal  resemblance ;  nor  any  in  their  language  or  customs.  The 
Pawnees  of  the  Platte  shave  the  head,  and  the  Pawnee  Piets 
abominate  the  custom;  allowing  their  hair  to  grow  like  the 
Camanchees  and  other  tribes. 

The  old  chief  of  the  Pawnee  Piets,  of  whom  I  have  before  spoken, 
and  whose  name  is  We-ta-ra-sha-ro  (Fig.  174),  is  undoubtedly  a  very 
excellent  and  kind-hearted  old  man,  of  ninety  or  more  years  of  age, 
and  has  consented  to  accompany  us,  with  a  large  party  of  his  people, 
to  Fort  Gibson ;  where  Colonel  Dodge  has  promised  to  return  him 
liberal  presents  from  the  Government,  for  the  friendship  he  has 
evinced  on  the  present  occasion. 

The  second  chief  of  this  tribe,  Sky-se-ro-ka  (Fig.  175),  we  found 
to  be  a  remarkably  clever  man,  and  much  approved  and  valued  in 
his  tribe. 

The  Pawnee  Piets,  as  well  as  the  Camanchees,  are  generally  a 
very  clumsy  and  ordinary  looking  set  of  men,  when  on  their  feet ; 
but  being  fine  horsemen,  are  equally  improved  in  appearance  as  soon 
as  they  mount  upon  their  horses’  backs. 

Amongst  the  women  of  this  tribe,  there  were  many  that  were 
exceedingly  pretty  in  feature  and  in  form ;  and  also  in  expression, 
though  their  skins  are  very  dark.  The  dress  of  the  men  in  this 
tribe,  as  amongst  the  Camanchees,  consists  generally  in  leggings  of 
dressed  skins,  and  moccasins ;  with  a  flap  or  breech  clout,  made  also 
of  dressed  skins  or  furs,  and  often  very  beautifully  ornamented  with 
shells,  etc.  Above  the  waist  they  seldom  wear  any  drapery,  owing 
to  the  warmth  of  the  climate,  which  will  rarely  justify  it;  and  their 
heads  are  generally  covered  with  a  head-dress,  like  the  Northern 
tribes,  who  live  in  a  colder  climate,  and  actually  require  them  for 
comfort. 

The  women  of  the  Camanchees  and  Pawnee  Piets,  are  always 
decently  and  comfortably  clad,  being  covered  generally  with  a  gown 
or  slip,  that  reaches  from  the  chin  quite  down  to  the  ankles,  made 
of  deer  or  elk  skins ;  often  garnished  very  prettily,  and  ornamented 
with  long  fringes  of  elks’  teeth,  which  are  fastened  on  them  in  rows, 
and  more  highly  valued  than  any  other  ornament  they  can  put  upon 
them. 

In  Figs.  176  and  177, 1  have  given  the  portraits  of  two  Pawnee 
girls,  Kah-kee-tsee  (the  thighs),  and  She-de-a  (wild  sage),  the  two 
Pawnee  women  who  had  been  held  as  prisoners  by  the  Osages, 


84 


and  purchased  by  the  Indian  Commissioner,  the  Beverend  Mr 
Schemmerhom,  and  brought  home  to  their  own  people,  and  delivered 
up  in  the  Pawnee  town,  in  the  manner  that  I  have  just  described. 

The  Kioways  are  a  much  finer  looking  race  of  men  than  either 
the  Camanchees  or  Pawnees — are  tall  and  erect,  with  an  easy  and 
graceful  gait — with  long  hair,  cultivated  oftentimes  so  as  to  reach 
nearly  to  the  ground.  They  have  generally  the  fine  and  Boman 
outline  of  head,  that  is  so  frequently  found  at  the  North — and 
decidedly  distinct  from  that  of  the  Camanchees  and  Pawnee  Piets. 
These  men  speak  a  language  distinct  from  both  of  the  others;  and 
in  fact,  the  Camanchees  and  Pawnee  Piets,  and  Kioways  and 
Wicos,  are  all  so  distinctly  different  in  their  languages,  as  to  appear 
in  that  respect  as  total  strangers  to  each  other.* 

The  head-chief  of  the  Kioways,  whose  name  is  Teh-toot-sah  (Fig. 
178),  we  found  to  be  a  very  gentlemanly  and  high-minded  man, 
who  treated  the  dragoons  and  officers  with  great  kindness  while  in 
his  country.  His  long  hair,  which  was  put  up  in  several  large 
clubs,  and  ornamented  with  a  great  many  silver  brooches,  extended 
quite  down  to  his  knees.  This  distinguished  man,  as  well  as  several 
others  of  his  tribe,  have  agreed  to  join  us  on  the  march  to  Fort 
Gibson ;  so  I  shall  have  much  of  their  company  yet,  and  probably 
much  more  to  say  of  them  at  a  future  period.  Bon-son-gee  (the  new 
fire,  Fig.  179)  is  another  chief  of  this  tribe,  and  called  a  very  good 
man ;  the  principal  ornaments  which  he  carried  on  his  person  were 
a  boar’s  tusk  and  his  war-whistle,  which  were  hanging  on  his  breast. 

Quay-ham-kay  (the  stone  shell,  Fig.  180),  is  another  fair  specimen 
of  the  warriors  of  this  tribe ;  and,  if  I  mistake  not,  somewhat  allied 
to  the  mysteries  and  arcana  of  the  healing  art,  from  the  close 
company  he  keeps  with  my  friend  Dr  Findley,  who  is  surgeon  to  the 
regiment,  and  by  whom  I  have  been  employed  to  make  a  copy  of  my 
portrait  of  this  distinguished  personage. 

In  Fig.  181,  Wun-pan-to-mee  (the  white  weasel),  a  girl,  and 
Tunk-aht-oh-ye  (the  thunderer),  a  boy ;  who  are  brother  and  sister, 
are  two  Kioways  who  were  purchased  from  the  Osages,  to  be  taken 
to  their  tribe  by  the  dragoons.  The  girl  was  taken  the  whole 
distance  with  us,  on  horseback,  to  the  Pawnee  village,  and  there 
delivered  to  her  friends,  as  I  have  before  mentioned ;  and  the  fine 

*  I  have  several  times,  in  former  parts  of  this  work,  spoken  of  the  great  number 
of  different  Indian  languages  which  I  have  visited,  and  given  my  opinion  as  to  the 
dissimilarity  and  distinctness  of  their  character.  And  would  refer  the  reader  for 
further  information  on  this  subject,  as  well  as  for  a  vocabulary  of  several  languages, 
to  the  Appendix  to  this  Volume,  letter  B. 


]03 


180 


j  •  'atiw 


181 


r: 

30 


CM 

CO 


85 


little  boy  was  killed  at  the  Fur  Trader’s  house  on  the  banks  of  the 
Verdigris,  near  Fort  Gibson,  the  day  after  I  painted  his  portrait,  and 
only  a  few  days  before  he  was  to  have  started  with  us  on  the  inarch. 
He  was  a  beautiful  boy  of  nine  or  ten  years  of  age,  and  was  killed 
by  a  ram,  which  struck  him  in  the  abdomen,  and  knocking  him 
against  a  fence,  killed  him  instantly. 

Kots-a-to-ah  (the  smoked  shield,  Fig.  182),  is  another  of  the 
extraordinary  men  of  this  tribe,  near  seven  feet  in  stature,  and 
distinguished,  not  only  as  one  of  the  greatest  warriors,  but  the 
swiftest  on  foot,  in  the  nation.  This  man,  it  is  said,  runs  down  a 
buffalo  on  foot,  and  slays  it  with  his  knife  or  his  lance,  as  he  runs 
by  its  side ! 

In  Fig.  183,  is  the  portrait  of  Ush-ee-kitz  (he  who  fights  with 
a  feather),  head-chief  of  the  Wico  tribe,  a  very  polite  and  polished 
Indian,  in  his  manners,  and  remarkable  for  his  mode  of  embracing 
the  officers  and  others  in  council. 

In  the  different  talks  and  councils  that  we  have  had  with  these 
people,  this  man  has  been  a  conspicuous  speaker ;  and  always,  at 
the  end  of  his  speeches,  has  been  in  the  habit  of  stepping  forward 
and  embracing  friends  and  foes,  all  that  were  about  him,  taking 
each  one  in  turn,  closely  and  affectionately  in  his  arms,  with  his  left 
cheek  against  theirs,  and  thus  holding  them  tightly  for  several 
minutes. 

All  the  above  chiefs  and  braves,  and  many  others,  forming  a 
very  picturesque  cavalcade,  will  move  off  with  us  in  a  day  or  two, 
on  our  way  back  to  Fort  Gibson,  where  it  is  to  be  hoped  we  may 
arrive  more  happy  than  we  are  in  our  present  jaded  and  sickly 
condition. 


LETTEE— No.  44 


CAMP  CANADIAN,  TEXAS 

Six  days  of  severe  travelling  have  brought  us  from  the  Camanchee 
village  to  the  north  bank  of  the  Canadian,  where  we  are  snugly 
encamped  on  a  beautiful  plain,  and  in  the  midst  of  countless 
numbers  of  buffaloes ;  and  halting  a  few  days  to  recruit  our  horses 
and  men,  and  dry  meat  to  last  us  the  remainder  of  our  journey. 

The  plains  around  this,  for  many  miles,  seem  actually  speckled 
in  distance,  and  in  every  direction,  with  herds  of  grazing  buffaloes ; 
and  for  several  days,  the  officers  and  men  have  been  indulged  in  a 
general  licence  to  gratify  their  sporting  propensities;  and  a  scene 
of  bustle  and  cruel  slaughter  it  has  been,  to  be  sure !  From  morning 
till  night,  the  camp  has  been  daily  almost  deserted ;  the  men  have 
dispersed  in  little  squads  in  all  directions,  and  are  dealing  death  to 
to  these  poor  creatures  to  a  most  cruel  and  wanton  extent,  merely  for 
the  pleasure  of  destroying,  generally  without  stopping  to  cut  out  the 
meat.  During  yesterday  and  this  day,  several  hundreds  have  un¬ 
doubtedly  been  killed,  and  not  so  much  as  the  flesh  of  half  a  dozen  used. 
Such  immense  swarms  of  them  are  spread  over  this  tract  of  country ; 
and  so  divided  and  terrified  have  they  become,  finding  their  enemies 
in  all  directions  where  they  run,  that  the  poor  beasts  seem  completely 
bewildered — running  here  and  there,  and  as  often  as  otherwise,  come 
singly  advancing  to  the  horsemen,  as  if  to  join  them  for  their 
company,  and  are  easily  shot  down.  In  the  turmoil  and  confusion, 
when  their  assailants  have  been  pushing  them  forward,  they  have 
galloped  through  our  encampment,  jumping  over  our  fires,  upsetting 
pots  and  kettles,  driving  horses  from  their  fastenings,  and  throwing 
the  whole  encampment  into  the  greatest  instant  consternation  and 
alarm.  The  hunting  fever  will  be  satiated  in  a  few  days  amongst 
the  young  men  who  are  well  enough  to  take  parts  in  the  chase ;  and 
the  bilious  fever,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  will  be  abated  in  a  short  time, 
amongst  those  who  are  invalid,  and  meat  enough  will  be  dried  to 
last  us  to  Fort  Gibson,  when  we  shall  be  on  the  march  again,  and 
wending  our  way  towards  that  garrison. 

Many  are  now  sick  and  unable  to  ride,  and  are  carried  on  litters 

between  two  horses.  Nearly  every  tent  belonging  to  the  officers  has 

86 


87 


been  converted  to  hospitals  for  the  sick ;  and  sighs  and  groaning  are 
heard  in  all  directions.  From  the  Camanchee  village  to  this  place, 
the  country  has  been  entirely  prairie ;  and  most  of  the  way  high 
and  dry  ground,  without  water,  for  which  we  sometimes  suffered 
very  much.  From  day  to  day  we  have  dragged  along,  exposed  to 
the  hot  and  burning  rays  of  the  sun,  without  a  cloud  to  relieve  its 
intensity,  or  a  bush  to  shade  us,  or  anything  to  cast  a  shadow,  except 
the  bodies  of  our  horses.  The  grass  for  a  great  part  of  the  way,  was 
very  much  dried  up,  scarcely  affording  a  bite  for  our  horses ;  and 
sometimes  for  the  distance  of  many  miles,  the  only  water  we  could 
find,  was  in  stagnant  pools,  lying  on  the  highest  ground,  in  which 
the  buffaloes  have  been  lying  and  wallowing  like  hogs  in  a  mud- 
puddle.  We  frequently  came  to  these  dirty  lavers,  from  which  we 
drove  the  herds  of  wallowing  buffaloes,  and  into  which  our  poor  and 
almost  dying  horses  irresistibly  ran  and  plunged  their  noses,  sucking 
up  the  dirty  and  poisonous  draught,  until,  in  some  instances,  they  fell 
dead  in  their  tracks — the  men  also  (and  oftentimes  amongst  the  num¬ 
ber,  the  writer  of  these  lines)  sprang  from  their  horses,  and  laded  up 
and  drank  to  almost  fatal  excess,  the  disgusting  and  tepid  draught, 
and  with  it  filled  their  canteens,  which  were  slung  to  their  sides, 
and  from  which  they  were  sucking  the  bilious  contents  during  the 
day. 

In  our  march  we  found  many  deep  ravines,  in  the  bottom  of  which 
there  were  the  marks  of  wild  and  powerful  streams ;  but  in  this  season 
of  drought  they  were  all  dried  up,  except  an  occasional  one,  where  we 
found  them  dashing;  along  in  the  coolest  and  clearest  manner,  and  on 
trial,  to  our  great  agony,  so  salt  that  even  our  horses  could  not  drink 
from  them  ;  so  we  had  occasionally  the  tantalising  pleasure  of  hearing 
the  roar  of,  and  looking  into,  the  clearest  and  most  sparkling  streams  ; 
and  after  that  the  dire  necessity  of  drinking  from  stagnant  pools  which 
lay  from  month  to  month  exposed  to  the  rays  of  the  sun,  till  their 
waters  become  so  poisonous  and  heavy,  from  the  loss  of  their  vital 
principle,  that  they  are  neither  diminished  by  absorption,  or  taken 
into  the  atmosphere  by  evaporation. 

This  poisonous  and  indigestible  water,  with  the  intense  rays  of 
the  sun  in  the  hottest  part  of  the  summer,  is  the  cause  of  the  un¬ 
exampled  sickness  of  the  horses  and  men.  Both  appear  to  be  suffer¬ 
ing  and  dying  with  the  same  disease,  a  slow  and  distressing  bilious 
fever,  which  seems  to  terminate  in  a  most  frightful  and  fatal  affection 
of  the  liver. 

In  these  several  cruel  days’  march,  I  have  suffered  severely,  having 
had  all  the  time  (and  having  yet)  a  distracting  fever  on  me.  My  real 


88 


friend,  Joe,  has  constantly  rode  by  my  side,  dismounting  and  filling 
my  canteen  for  me,  and  picking  up  minerals  or  fossils,  which  my 
jaundiced  eyes  were  able  to  discover  as  we  were  passing  over  them ; 
or  doing  other  kind  offices  for  me,  when  I  was  too  weak  to  mount 
my  horse  without  aid.  During  this  march  over  these  dry  and  parched 
plains,  we  picked  up  many  curious  things  of  the  fossil  and  mineral 
kind,  and  besides  them  a  number  of  the  horned  frogs.  In  our  port¬ 
manteaux  we  had  a  number  of  tin  boxes  in  which  we  had  carried 
Seidlitz  powders,  in  which  we  caged  a  number  of  them  safely,  in 
hopes  to  carry  them  home  alive.  Several  remarkable  specimens  my 
friend  Joe  has  secured  of  these,  with  the  horns  of  half-  and  three- 
fourths  of  an  inch  in  length,  and  very  sharp  at  the  points. 

These  curious  subjects  have  so  often  fallen  under  my  eye  while 
on  the  Upper  Missouri,  that  with  me,  they  have  lost  their  novelty  in 
a  great  degree ;  but  they  have  amused  and  astonished  my  friend  Chad¬ 
wick  so  much,  that  he  declares  he  will  take  every  one  he  can  pick  up, 
and  make  a  sensation  with  them  when  he  gets  home.  In  this  way 
Joe’s  fancy  for  horned  frogs  has  grown  into  a  sort  of  frog-mania,  and 
his  eyes  are  strained  all  day,  and  gazing  amongst  the  grass  and  pebbles 
as  he  rides  along,  for  his  precious  little  prizes,  which  he  occasionally 
picks  up  and  consigns  to  his  pockets.'* 

On  one  of  these  hard  day’s  march,  and  just  at  night,  whilst  we 
were  looking  out  for  water,  and  a  suitable  place  to  encamp,  Joe  and  I 
galloped  off  a  mile  or  two  to  the  right  of  the  regiment,  to  a  point  of 
timber,  to  look  for  water,  where  we  found  a  small  and  sunken  stag¬ 
nant  pool ;  and  as  our  horses  plunged  their  feet  into  it  to  drink,  we 
saw  to  our  great  surprise,  a  number  of  frogs  hopping  across  its  sur¬ 
face,  as  our  horses  started  them  from  the  shore !  Several  of  them 
stopped  in  the  middle  of  the  pool,  sitting  quite  “  high  and  dry  ”  on 
the  surface  of  the  water ;  and  when  we  approached  them  nearer,  or 
jostled  them,  they  made  a  leap  into  the  air,  and  coming  down  head 
foremost — went  under  the  water  and  secreted  themselves  at  the 
bottom.  Here  was  a  subject  for  Joe,  in  his  own  line !  frogs  with 
horns,  and  frogs  with  webbed  feet,  that  could  hop  about,  and  sit  upon, 
the  surface  of  the  water !  We  rode  around  the  pool  and  drove  a 
number  of  them  into  it,  and  fearing  that  it  would  be  useless  to  try 
to  get  one  of  them  that  evening ;  we  rode  back  to  the  encampment, 
exulting  very  much  in  the  curious  discovery  we  had  made  for  the 
naturalists ;  and  by  relating  to  some  of  the  officers  what  we  had  seen, 

*  Several  months  after  this,  when  I  visited  my  friend  Joe’s  room  in  St  Louis,  he 
showed  me  his  horned  frogs  in  their  little  tin  boxes,  in  good  flesh  and  good  condition*, 
where  they  had  existed  several  months,  without  food  of  any  kind. 


8y 

got  excessively  laughed  at  for  our  wonderful  discovery !  Nevertheless, 
Joe  and  I  could  not  disbelieve  what  we  had  seen  so  distinctly  “  with 
our  own  eyes ;  ”  and  we  took  to  ourselves  (or  in  other  words,  I  ac¬ 
quiesced  in  Joe’s  taking  to  himself,  as  it  was  so  peculiarly  in  his  line) 
the  most  unequivocal  satisfaction  in  the  curious  and  undoubted  dis¬ 
covery  of  this  new  variety ;  and  we  made  our  arrangements  to  ride 
back  to  the  spot  before  “bugle  call ”  in  the  morning;  and  by  a 
thorough  effort,  to  obtain  a  specimen  or  two  of  the  web-footed  frogs 
for  Joe’s  pocket,  to  be  by  him  introduced  to  the  consideration  of  the 
knowing  ones  in  the  East.  Well,  our  horses  were  saddled  at  an  early 
hour,  and  Joe  and  I  were  soon  on  the  spot — and  he  with  a  handker¬ 
chief  at  the  end  of  a  little  pole,  with  which  he  had  made  a  sort  of 
scoop-net,  soon  dipped  one  up  as  it  was  hopping  along  on  the  surface 
of  the  water,  and  making  unsuccessful  efforts  to  dive  through  its  sur¬ 
face.  On  examining  its  feet,  we  found,  to  our  very  great  surprise, 
that  we  had  taken  a  great  deal  of  pains  to  entrap  an  old  and  familiar 
little  acquaintance  of  our  boyhood ;  but,  somewhat  like  ourselves, 
unfortunately,  from  dire  necessity,  driven  to  a  loathsome  pool,  where 
the  water  was  so  foul  and  slimy,  that  it  could  hop  and  dance  about 
its  surface  with  dry  feet ;  and  where  it  oftentimes  found  difficulty  in 
diving  through  the  surface  to  hide  itself  at  the  bottom. 

I  laughed  a  great  deal  at  poor  J oe’s  most  cruel  expense,  and  we 
amused  ourselves  a  few  minutes  about  this  filthy  and  curious  pool, 
and  rode  back  to  the  encampment.  We  found  by  taking  the  water 
up  in  the  hollow  of  the  hand,  and  dipping  the  finger  in  it,  and  draw- 
it  over  the  side,  thus  conducting  a  little  of  it  out ;  it  was  so  slimy 
that  the  whole  would  run  over  the  side  of  the  hand  in  a  moment ! 

We  were  joked  and  teased  a  great  deal  about  our  web-footed  frogs  ; 
and  after  this,  poor  Joe  has  had  repeatedly  to  take  out  and  exhibit 
his  little  pets  in  his  pockets,  to  convince  our  travelling  companions 
that  frogs  sometimes  actually  have  horns. 

Since  writing  the  above,  an  express  has  arrived  from  the  encamp¬ 
ment,  which  we  left  at  the  mouth  of  False  Washita,  with  the 
melancholy  tidings  of  the  death  of  General  Leavenworth,  Lieutenant 
M'Clure,  and  ten  or  fifteen  of  the  men  left  at  that  place !  This  has 
cast  a  gloom  over  our  little  encampment  here,  and  seems  to  be 
received  as  a  fatal  foreboding  by  those  who  are  sick  with  the  same 
disease ;  and  many  of  them,  poor  fellows,  with  scarce  a  hope  left  now 
for  their  recovery. 

It  seems  that  the  General  had  moved  on  our  trail  a  few  days  after 
we  left  the  Washita,  to  the  “Cross  Timbers,”  a  distance  of  fifty  or 
sixty  miles,  where  his  disease  at  last  terminated  his  existence ;  and  I 

F* 


90 


am  inclined  to  think,  as  I  before  mentioned,  in  consequence  of  the 
injury  he  sustained  in  a  fall  from  his  horse  when  running  a  buffalo 
calf.  My  reason  for  believing  this,  is,  that  I  rode  and  ate  with  him 
every  day  after  the  hour  of  his  fall ;  and  from  that  moment  I  was  quite 
sure  that  I  saw  a  different  expression  in  his  face,  from  that  which  he 
naturally  wore ;  and  when  riding  by  the  side  of  him  two  or  three 
days  after  his  fall,  I  observed  to  him,  “  General,  you  have  a  very  bad 
cough.” — “  Yes,”  he  replied,  “  I  have  killed  myself  in  running  that 
devilish  calf ;  and  it  was  a  very  lucky  thing,  Catlin,  that  you  painted 
the  portrait  of  me  before  we  started,  for  it  is  all  that  my  dear  wife 
will  ever  see  of  me.” 

We  shall  be  on  the  move  again  in  a  few  days ;  and  I  plainly  see 
that  I  shall  be  upon  a  litter,  unless  my  horrid  fever  leaves  me,  which 
is  daily  taking  away  my  strength,  and  almost,  at  times,  my  senses. 
Adieu  1 


LETTER— No.  45 


FORT  GIBSON,  ARKANSAS 

The  last  Letter  was  written  from  my  tent,  and  out  upon  the  wild 
prairies,  when  I  was  shaken  and  terrified  by  a  burning  fever,  with 
home  and  my  dear  wife  and  little  one,  two  thousand  miles  ahead  of 
me,  whom  I  was  despairing  of  ever  embracing  again.  I  am  now 
scarcely  better  off,  except  that  I  am  in  comfortable  quarters,  with 
kind  attendance,  and  friends  about  me.  I  am  yet  sick  and  very 
feeble,  having  been  for  several  weeks  upon  my  back  since  I  was 
brought  in  from  the  prairies.  I  am  slowly  recovering,  and  for  the 
first  time  since  I  wrote  from  the  Canadian,  able  to  use  my  pen  or 
my  brush. 

We  drew  off  from  that  slaughtering  ground  a  few  days  after  my 
last  Letter  was  written,  with  a  great  number  sick,  carried  upon  litters 
— with  horses  giving  out  and  dying  by  the  way,  which  much  impeded 
our  progress  over  the  long  and  tedious  route  that  lay  between  us 
and  Fort  Gibson.  Fifteen  days  however,  of  constant  toil  and  fatigue 
brought  us  here,  but  in  a  most  crippled  condition.  Many  of  the  sick 
were  left  by  the  way  with  attendants  to  take  care  of  them,  others 
were  buried  from  their  litters  on  which  they  breathed  their  last 
while  travelling,  and  many  others  were  brought  in,  to  this  place, 
merely  to  die  and  get  the  privilege  of  a  decent  burial. 

Since  the  very  day  of  our  start  into  that  country,  the  men  have 
been  constantly  falling  sick,  and  on  their  return,  of  those  who  are 
alive,  there  are  not  well  ones  enough  to  take  care  of  the  sick.  Many 
are  yet  left  out  upon  the  prairies,  and  of  those  that  have  been  brought 
in,  and  quartered  in  the  hospital,  with  the  soldiers  of  the  infantry 
regiment  stationed  here,  four  or  five  are  buried  daily;  and  as  an 
equal  number  from  the  9th  regiment  are  falling  by  the  same  disease, 
I  have  the  mournful  sound  of  “  Roslin  Castle  ”  with  muffled  drums, 
passing  six  or  eight  times  a  day  under  my  window,  to  the  burying- 
ground ;  which  is  but  a  little  distance  in  front  of  my  room,  where  I 
can  lie  in  my  bed  and  see  every  poor  fellow  lowered  down  into  his 
silent  and  peaceful  habitation.  During  the  day  before  yesterday,  no 
less  than  eight  solemn  processions  visited  that  insatiable  ground,  and 
amongst  them  was  carried  the  corpse  of  my  intimate  and  much-loved 

91 


92 


friend  Lieutenant  West,  who  was  aide-de-camp  to  General  Leaven¬ 
worth,  on  this  disastrous  campaign,  and  who  has  left  in  this  place,  a 
worthy  and  distracted  widow,  with  her  little  ones  to  mourn  for  his 
untimely  end.  On  the  same  day  was  buried  also  the  Prussian 
botanist,  a  most  excellent  and  scientific  gentleman,  who  had  obtained 
an  order  from  the  Secretary  of  War  to  accompany  the  expedition  for 
scientific  purposes.  He  had  at  St  Louis,  purchased  a  very  comfort¬ 
able  dearborn  waggon,  and  a  snug  span  of  little  horses  to  convey 
himself  and  his  servant  with  his  collection  of  plants,  over  the 
prairies.  In  this  he  travelled  in  company  with  the  regiment  from  St 
Louis  to  Fort  Gibson,  some  five  or  six  hundred  miles,  and  from  that 
to  the  False  Washita  and  the  Cross  Timbers,  and  back  again.  In 
this  Tour  he  had  made  an  immense,  and  no  doubt,  very  valuable 
collection  of  plants,  and  at  this  place  had  been  for  some  weeks  in- 
defatigably  engaged  in  changing  and  drying  them,  and  at  last,  fell  a 
victim  to  the  disease  of  the  country,  which  seemed  to  have  made 
an  easy  conquest  of  him,  from  the  very  feeble  and  enervated  state 
he  was  evidently  in,  that  of  pulmonary  consumption.  This  fine, 
gentlemanly  and  urbane,  excellent  man,  to  whom  I  became  very 
much  attached,  was  lodged  in  a  room  adjoining  to  mine,  where  he 
died,  as  he  had  lived,  peaceably  and  smiling,  and  that  when  nobody 
knew  that  his  life  was  in  immediate  danger.  The  surgeon  who  was 
attending  me,  (Dr  Wright),  was  sitting  on  my  bedside  in  his 
morning  call  at  my  room,  when  a  negro  boy,  who  alone  had  been 
left  in  the  room  with  him,  came  into  my  apartment  and  said  Mr 
Beyrich  was  dying — we  instantly  stepped  into  his  room  and  found 
him,  not  in  the  agonies  of  death,  but  quietly  breathing  his  last, 
without  a  word  or  a  struggle,  as  he  had  laid  himself  upon  his  bed 
with  his  clothes  and  his  boots  on.  In  this  way  perished  this  worthy 
man,  who  had  no  one  here  of  kindred  friends  to  drop  tears  for  him ; 
and  on  the  day  previous  to  his  misfortune,  died  also,  and  much  in 
the  same  way,  his  devoted  and  faithful  servant,  a  young  man,  a 
native  of  Germany.  Their  bodies  were  buried  by  the  side  of  each 
other,  and  a  general  feeling  of  deep  grief  was  manifested  by  the 
officers  and  citizens  of  the  post,  in  the  respect  that  was  paid 
to  their  remains  in  the  appropriate  and  decent  committal  of  them  to 
the  grave. 

After  leaving  the  head  waters  of  the  Canadian,  my  illness 
continually  increased,  and  losing  strength  every  day,  I  soon  got  so 
reduced  that  I  was  necessarily  lifted  on  to  and  off  from,  my  horse ; 
and  at  last,  so  that  I  could  not  ride  at  all.  I  was  then  put  into  a 
baggage-waggon  which  was  going  back  empty,  except  with  several 


93 


soldiers  sick,  and  in  this  condition  rode  eight  days,  most  of  the 
time  in  a  delirious  state,  lying  on  the  hard  planks  of  the  waggon, 
and  made  still  harder  by  the  jarring  and  jolting,  until  the  skin  from 
my  elbows  and  knees  was  literally  worn  through,  and  I  almost 
“  worn  out ;  ”  when  we  at  length  reached  this  post,  and  I  was  taken 
to  a  bed,  in  comfortable  quarters,  where  I  have  had  the  skilful 
attendance  of  my  friend  and  old  schoolmate,  Dr  Wright,  under 
whose  hands,  thank  God,  I  have  been  restored,  and  am  now  daily 
recovering  my  flesh  and  usual  strength. 

The  experiment  has  thus  been  made,  of  sending  an  army  of  men 
from  the  North,  into  this  Southern  and  warm  climate,  in  the  hottest 
months  of  the  year,  of  July  and  August;  and  from  this  sad  experi¬ 
ment  I  am  sure  a  secret  will  be  learned  that  will  be  of  value  on 
future  occasions. 

Of  the  450  fine  fellows  who  started  from  this  place  four  months 
since,  about  one-third  have  already  died,  and  I  believe  many  more 
there  are  whose  fates  are  sealed,  and  will  yet  fall  victims  to  the 
deadly  diseases  contracted  in  that  fatal  country.  About  this  post  it 
seems  to  be  almost  equally  unhealthy,  and  generally  so  during  this 
season,  all  over  this  region,  which  is  probably  owing  to  an  unusual 
drought  which  has  been  visited  on  the  country,  and  unknown  here¬ 
tofore  to  the  oldest  inhabitants. 

Since  we  came  in  from  the  prairies,  and  the  sickness  has  a  little 
abated,  we  have  had  a  bustling  time  with  the  Indians  at  this  place. 
Colonel  Dodge  sent  runners  to  the  chiefs  of  all  the  contiguous  tribes 
of  Indians,  with  an  invitation  to  meet  the  Pawnees,  etc.,  in  council, 
at  this  place.  Seven  or  eight  tribes  flocked  to  us,  in  great  numbers 
on  the  first  day  of  the  month,  when  the  council  commenced ;  it 
continued  for  several  days,  and  gave  these  semi-civilised  sons 
of  the  forest  a  fair  opportunity  of  shaking  the  hands  of  their 
wild  and  untamed  red  brethren  of  the  West — of  embracing  them 
in  their  arms,  with  expressions  of  friendship,  and  of  smoking 
the  calumet  together,  as  the  solemn  pledge  of  lasting  peace  and 
friendship. 

Colonel  Dodge,  Major  Armstrong  (the  Indian  agent),  and  General 
Stokes  (the  Indian  commissioner),  presided  at  this  council,  and  I 
cannot  name  a  scene  more  interesting  and  entertaining  than  it  was ; 
where,  for  several  days  in  succession,  free  vent  was  given  to  the 
feelings  of  men  civilised,  half -civilised,  and  wild ;  where  the  three  stages 
of  man  were  fearlessly  asserting  their  rights,  their  happiness,  and 
friendship  for  each  other.  The  vain  orations  of  the  half-polished 
(and  half-breed)  Cherokees  and  Choctaws,  with  all  their  finery  and 


94 


art,  found  their  match  in  the  brief  and  jarring  gutturals  of  the  wild 
and  naked  man. 

After  the  council  had  adjourned,  and  the  fumes  of  the  peace¬ 
making  calumet  had  vanished  away,  and  Colonel  Dodge  had  made 
them  additional  presents,  they  soon  made  preparations  for  their 
departure,  and  on  the  next  day  started,  with  an  escort  of  dragoons, 
for  their  own  country.  This  movement  is  much  to  be  regretted ;  for 
it  would  have  been  exceedingly  gratifying  to  the  people  of  the  East  to 
have  seen  so  wild  a  group,  and  it  would  have  been  of  great  service 
to  them  to  have  visited  Washington — a  journey,  though,  which  they 
could  not  be  prevailed  upon  to  make. 

We  brought  with  us  to  this  place,  three  of  the  principal  chiefs  of 
the  Pawnees,  fifteen  Kioways,  one  Camanchee,  and  one  Wico  chief. 
The  group  was  undoubtedly  one  of  the  most  interesting  that  ever 
visited  our  frontier ;  and,  I  have  taken  the  utmost  pains  in  painting 
the  portraits  of  all  of  them,  as  well  as  seven  of  the  Camanchee  chiefs, 
who  came  part  of  the  way  with  us,  and  turned  back.  These 
portraits,  together  with  other  paintings  which  I  have  made,  descrip¬ 
tive  of  their  manners  and  customs — views  of  their  villages — land¬ 
scapes  of  the  country,  etc.,  will  soon  be  laid  before  the  amateurs  of 
the  East,  and,  I  trust,  will  be  found  to  be  very  interesting. 

Although  the  achievement  has  been  a  handsome  one,  of  bringing 
these  unknown  people  to  an  acquaintance,  and  a  general  peace ;  and 
at  first  sight  would  appear  to  be  of  great  benefit  to  them — yet  I 
have  my  strong  doubts,  whether  it  will  better  their  condition,  unless 
with  the  exercised  aid  of  the  strong  arm  of  Government,  they  can 
be  protected  in  the  rights  which,  by  nature,  they  are  entitled  to. 

There  is  already  in  this  place  a  company  of  eighty  men  fitted  out, 
who  are  to  start  to-morrow,  to  overtake  these  Indians  a  few  miles 
from  this  place,  and  accompany  them  home,  with  a  large  stock  of 
goods,  with  traps  for  catching  beavers,  etc.,  calculating  to  build  a 
trading-house  amongst  them,  where  they  will  amass,  at  once,  an 
immense  fortune,  being  the  first  traders  and  trappers  that  have  ever 
been  in  that  part  of  the  country. 

I  have  travelled  too  much  among  Indian  tribes,  and  seen  too’ 
much,  not  to  know  the  evil  consequences  of  such  a  system.  Goods 
are  sold  at  such  exorbitant  prices,  that  the  Indian  gets  a  mere 
shadow  for  his  peltries,  etc.  The  Indians  see  no  white  people  but 
traders  and  sellers  of  whiskey;  and  of  course,  judge  us  all  by  them 
— they  consequently  hold  us,  and  always  will,  in  contempt;  as 
inferior  to  themselves,  as  they  have  reason  to  do — and  they  neither 
fear  nor  respect  us.  When,  on  the  contrary,  if  the  Government 


95 


would  promptly  prohibit  such  establishments,  and  invite  these  Indians 
to  our  frontier  posts,  they  would  bring  in  their  furs,  their  robes, 
horses,  mules,  etc.,  to  this  place,  where  there  is  a  good  market  for 
them  all — where  they  would  get  the  full  value  of  their  property — 
where  there  are  several  stores  of  goods — where  there  is  an  honourable 
competition,  and  where  they  would  get  four  or  five  times  as  much 
for  their  articles  of  trade  as  they  would  get  from  a  trader  in  the 
village,  out  of  the  reach  of  competition,  and  out  of  sight  of  the 
civilised  world. 

At  the  same  time,  as  they  would  be  continually  coming  where 
they  would  see  good  and  polished  society,  they  would  be  gradually 
adopting  our  modes  of  living — introducing  to  their  country  our 
vegetables,  our  domestic  animals,  poultry,  etc.,  and  at  length,  our 
arts  and  manufactures ;  they  would  see  and  estimate  our  military 
strength  and  advantages,  and  would  be  led  to  fear  and  respect  us. 
In  short,  it  would  undoubtedly  be  the  quickest  and  surest  way  to 
a  general  acquaintance — to  friendship  and  peace,  and  at  last  to 
civilisation.  If  there  is  a  law  in  existence  for  such  protection  of 
the  Indian  tribes,  which  may  have  been  waived  in  the  case  of  those 
nations  with  which  we  have  long  traded,  it  is  a  great  pity  that  it 
should  not  be  rigidly  enforced  in  this  new  and  important  acquaint¬ 
ance,  which  we  have  just  made  with  thirty  or  forty  thousand 
strangers  to  the  civilised  world ;  yet  (as  we  have  learned  from  their 
unaffected  hospitality  when  in  their  villages),  with  hearts  of  human 
mould,  susceptible  of  all  the  noble  feelings  belonging  to  civilised  man. 

This  acquaintance  has  cost  the  United  States  a  vast  sum  of 
money,  as  well  as  the  lives  of  several  valuable  and  esteemed  officers, 
and  more  than  100  of  the  dragoons;  and  for  the  honour  of  the 
American  name,  I  think  we  ought,  in  forming  an  acquaintance  with 
these  numerous  tribes,  to  adopt  and  enforce  some  different  system 
from  that  which  has  been  generally  practised  on  and  beyond  our 
frontiers  heretofore. 

What  the  regiment  of  dragoons  has  suffered  from  sickness  since 
they  started  on  their  summer’s  campaign  is  unexampled  in  this 
country,  and  almost  incredible. — When  we  started  from  this  place, 
ten  or  fifteen  were  sent  back  the  first  day,  too  sick  to  proceed ;  and 
so  afterwards  our  numbers  were  daily  diminished,  and  at  the  distance 
of  200  miles  from  this  place  we  could  muster,  out  of  the  whole 
regiment,  but  250  men  who  were  able  to  proceed,  with  which  little 
band,  and  that  again  reduced  some  sixty  or  seventy  by  sickness,  we 
pushed  on,  and  accomplished  all  that  was  done.  The  beautiful  and 
pictured  scenes  which  we  passed  over  had  an  alluring  charm  on 


96 


their  surface,  but  (as  it  would  seem)  a  lurking  poison  within,  that 
spread  a  gloom  about  our  encampment  whenever  we  pitched  it. 

We  sometimes  rode  day  after  day,  without  a  tree  to  shade  us 
from  the  burning  rays  of  a  tropical  sun,  or  a  breath  of  wind  to  regale 
us  or  cheer  our  hearts — and  with  mouths  continually  parched  with 
thirst,  we  dipped  our  drink  from  stagnant  pools  that  were  heated 
by  the  sun,  and  kept  in  fermentation  by  the  wallowing  herds  of 
buffaloes  that  resort  to  them.  In  this  way  we  dragged  on,  some¬ 
times  passing  picturesque  and  broken  country,  with  fine  springs  and 
streams,  affording  us  the  luxury  of  a  refreshing  shade  and  a  cool 
draught  of  water. 

Thus  was  dragged  through  and  completed  this  most  disastrous 
campaign;  and  to  Colonel  Dodge  and  Colonel  Kearny,  who  so 
indefatigably  led  and  encouraged  their  men  through  it,  too  much 
praise  cannot  be  awarded. 

During  my  illness  while  I  have  been  at  this  post,  my  friend  Joe 
has  been  almost  constantly  by  my  bedside;  evincing  (as  he  did 
when  we  were  creeping  over  the  vast  prairies)  the  most  sincere  and 
intense  anxiety  for  my  recovery,  whilst  he  has  administered,  like  a 
brother,  every  aid  and  every  comfort  that  lay  in  his  power  to  bring. 
Such  tried  friendship  as  this,  I  shall  ever  recollect ;  and  it  will  long 
hence  and  often,  lead  my  mind  back  to  retrace,  at  least,  the  first 
part  of  our  campaign,  which  was  full  pleasant;  and  many  of  its 
incidents  have  formed  pleasing  impressions  on  my  memory,  which 
I  would  preserve  to  the  end  of  my  life. 

When  we  started,  we  were  fresh  and  ardent  for  the  incidents 
that  were  before  us — our  little  packhorse  carried  our  bedding  and 
culinary  articles ;  amongst  which  we  had  a  coffee-pot  and  a  frying- 
pan — coffee  in  good  store,  and  sugar — and  wherever  we  spread  our 
bear-skin,  and  kindled  our  fire  in  the  grass,  we  were  sure  to  take 
by  ourselves,  a  delightful  repast,  and  a  refreshing  sleep.  During  the 
march,  as  we  were  subject  to  no  military  subordination,  we  galloped 
about  wherever  we  were  disposed,  popping  away  at  whatever  we 
chose  to  spend  ammunition  upon — and  running  our  noses  into  every 
wild  nook  and  crevice,  as  we  saw  fit.  In  this  way  we  travelled 
happily,  until  our  coffee  was  gone,  and  our  bread ;  and  even  then  we 
were  happy  upon  meat  alone,  until  at  last  each  one  in  his  turn,  like 
every  other  moving  thing  about  us,  both  man  and  beast,  were  vomit¬ 
ing  and  fainting,  under  the  poisonous  influence  of  some  latent  enemy, 
that  was  floating  in  the  air,  and  threatening  our  destruction.  Then 
came  the  “  tug  of  war,”  and  instead  of  catering  for  our  amusements, 
every  one  seemed  desperately  studying  the  means  that  were  to 


97 


support  him  on  his  feet,  and  bring  him  safe  home  again  to  the  bosoms 
of  his  friends.  In  our  start,  our  feelings  were  buoyant  and  light, 
and  we  had  the  luxuries  of  life — the  green  prairies,  spotted  with  wild 
flowers,  and  the  clear  blue  sky,  were  an  earthly  paradise  to  us,  until 
fatigue  and  disease,  and  at  last  despair,  made  them  tiresome  and 
painful  to  our  jaundiced  eyes. 

On  our  way,  and  while  we  were  in  good  heart,  my  friend  Joe  and 
I  had  picked  up  many  minerals  and  fossils  of  an  interesting  nature, 
which  we  put  in  our  portmanteaux  and  carried  for  weeks,  with  much 
pains,  and  some  pain  also,  until  the  time  when  our  ardour  cooled  and 
our  spirits  lagged,  and  then  we  discharged  and  threw  them  away; 
and  sometimes  we  came  across  specimens  again,  still  more  wonderful, 
which  we  put  in  their  place,  and  lugged  along  till  we  were  tired  of 
them,  and  their  weight,  and  we  discharged  them  as  before ;  so  that 
from  our  eager  desire  to  procure,  we  lugged  many  pounds  weight  of 
stones,  shells,  etc.,  nearly  the  whole  way,  and  were  glad  that  their 
mother  Earth  should  receive  them  again  at  our  hands,  which  was 
done  long  before  we  got  back. 

One  of  the  most  curious  places  we  met  in  all  our  route,  was  a 
mountain  ridge  of  fossil  shells,  from  which  a  great  number  of  the 
above-mentioned  specimens  were  taken.  During  our  second  day’s 
march  from  the  mouth  of  the  False  Washita,  we  were  astonished  to 
find  ourselves  travelling  over  a  bed  of  clam  and  oyster  shells,  which 
were  all  in  a  complete  state  of  petrifaction.  This  ridge,  which 
seemed  to  run  from  N.E.  to  S.W.,  was  several  hundred  feet  high,  and 
varying  from  a  quarter  to  half  a  mile  in  breadth,  seemed  to  be  com¬ 
posed  of  nothing  but  a  concretion  of  shells,  which,  on  the  surface, 
exposed  to  the  weather  for  the  depth  of  eight  or  ten  inches,  were 
entirely  separated  from  the  cementing  material  which  had  held  them 
together,  and  were  lying  on  the  surface,  sometimes  for  acres  together, 
without  a  particle  of  soil  or  grass  upon  them  ;  with  the  colour,  shapes, 
and  appearance  exactly  of  the  natural  shells,  lying  loosely  together, 
into  which  our  horses’  feet  were  sinking  at  every  step,  above  their 
fetterlocks.  These  I  consider  the  most  extraordinary  petrifactions  I 
ever  beheld.  In  any  way  they  could  be  seen,  individually,  or  in  the 
mass  together,  they  seemed  to  be  nothing  but  the  pure  shells  themselves, 
both  in  colour  and  in  shape.  In  many  instances  we  picked  them  up 
entire,  never  having  been  opened ;  and  taking  our  knives  out,  and 
splitting  them  open  as  we  would  an  oyster,  the  fish  was  seen  petrified 
in  perfect  form,  and  by  dipping  it  into  water,  it  showed  all  the 
colours  and  freshness  of  an  oyster  just  opened  and  laid  on  a  plate  to 
be  eaten.  Joe  and  I  had  carefully  tied  up  many  of  these,  with  which 
VOL.  II.  G 


98 


we  felt  quite  sure  we  could  deceive  our  oyster-eating  friends  when 
we  got  back  to  the  East ;  yet,  like  many  other  things  we  collected, 
they  shared  the  fate  that  I  have  mentioned,  without  our  bringing  home 
one  of  them,  though  we  brought  many  of  them  several  hundreds  of 
miles,  and  at  last  threw  them  away.  This  remarkable  ridge  is  in 
some  parts  covered  with  grass,  but  generally  with  mere  scattering 
bunches,  for  miles  together,  partially  covering  this  compact  mass  of 
shells,  forming  (in  my  opinion)  one  of  the  greatest  geological  curiosities 
now  to  be  seen  in  this  country,  as  it  lies  evidently  some  thousands  of 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  ocean,  and  seven  or  eight  hundred  miles 
from  the  nearest  point  on  the  sea-coast. 

In  another  section  of  the  country,  lying  between  Fort  Gibson  and 
the  Washita,  we  passed  over  a  ridge  for  several  miles,  running  parallel 
to  this,  where  much  of  the  way  there  was  no  earth  or  grass  under 
foot,  but  our  horses  were  travelling  on  a  solid  rock,  which  had  on 
its  surface  a  reddish  or  oxidised  appearance ;  and  on  getting  from 
my  horse  and  striking  it  with  my  hatchet,  I  found  it  to  contain 
sixty  or  eighty  per  cent,  of  solid  iron,  which  produced  a  ringing 
noise,  and  a  rebounding  of  the  hatchet,  as  if  it  were  struck  upon 
an  anvil. 

In  other  parts,  and  farther  west,  between  the  Camanchee  village 
and  the  Canadian,  we  passed  over  a  similar  surface  for  many  miles 
denuded,  with  the  exception  of  here  and  there  little  bunches  of  grass 
and  wild  sage,  a  level  and  exposed  surface  of  solid  gypsum,  of  a  dark 
grey  colour;  and  through  it,  occasionally  as  far  as  the  eye  could 
discover,  to  the  east  and  the  west,  streaks  of  three  and  five  inches 
wide  of  snowy  gypsum,  which  was  literally  as  white  as  the  drifted 
snow. 

Of  saltpetre  and  salt,  there  are  also  endless  supplies;  so  it  will  be 
seen  that  the  mineral  resources  of  this  wilderness  country  are  in¬ 
exhaustible  and  rich,  and  that  the  idle  savage,  who  never  converts 
them  to  his  use,  must  soon  yield  them  to  the  occupation  of  enlightened 
and  cultivating  man. 

In  the  vicinity  of  this  post  there  are  an  immense  number  of 
Indians,  most  of  whom  have  been  removed  to  their  present  locations 
by  the  Government,  from  their  eastern  original  positions,  within  a 
few  years  past ;  and  previous  to  my  starting  with  the  dragoons,  I 
had  two  months  at  my  leisure  in  this  section  of  the  country,  which  I 
used  in  travelling  about  with  my  canvas  and  note-book,  and  visiting 
all  of  them  in  their  villages.  I  have  made  many  paintings  amongst 
them,  and  have  a  curious  note-book  to  open  at  a  future  day,  for  which 
the  reader  may  be  prepared.  The  tribes  whom  I  thus  visited,  and  of 


99 


whom  my  note-book  will  yet  speak,  are  the  Clierolcees,  Choctaws,  Crcclcs, 
Senvinoles,  Clnclcasaius,  Quapaws,  Senecas,  Delawares,  and  several  others, 
whose  customs  are  interesting,  and  whose  history,  from  their  proximity 
to,  and  dealings  with  the  civilised  community,  is  one  of  great  interest, 
and  some  importance,  to  the  enlightened  world.  Adieu. 


LETTER— No.  46 


ALTON,  ILLINOIS 

A  few  days  after  the  date  of  the  above  Letter,  I  took  leave  of  Fort 
Gibson,  and  made  a  transit  across  the  prairies  to  this  place,  a  distance 
of  550  miles,  which  I  have  performed  entirely  alone,  and  had  the 
satisfaction  of  joining  my  wife,  whom  I  have  found  in  good  health, 
in  a  family  of  my  esteemed  friends,  with  whom  she  has  been  residing 
during  my  last  year  of  absence. 

While  at  Fort  Gibson,  on  my  return  from  the  Camanchees,  I  was 
quartered  for  a  month  or  two  in  a  room  with  my  fellow-companion 
in  misery,  Captain  Wharton,  of  the  dragoons,  who  had  come  in  from 
the  prairies  in  a  condition  very  similar  to  mine,  and  lay  in  a  bed 
in  the  opposite  corner  of  the  room ;  where  we  lay  for  several  weeks, 
like  two  grim  ghosts,  rolling  our  glaring  and  staring  eyeballs  upon 
each  other,  when  we  were  totally  unable  to  hold  converse,  other  than 
that  which  was  exchanged  through  the  expressive  language  of  our 
hollow,  and  bilious,  sunken  eyes. 

The  Captain  had  been  sent  with  a  company  of  dragoons  to  escort 
the  Santa  Fe  Traders  through  the  country  of  the  Camanchees  and 
Pawnees,  and  had  returned  from  a  rapid  and  bold  foray  into  the 
country,  with  many  of  his  men  sick,  and  himself  attacked  with  the 
epidemic  of  the  country.  The  Captain  is  a  gentleman  of  high  and 
noble  bearing,  of  one  of  the  most  respected  families  in  Philadelphia, 
with  a  fine  and  chivalrous  feeling ;  but  with  scarce  physical  stamina 
sufficient  to  bear  him  up  under  the  rough  vicissitudes  of  his  wild 
and  arduous  sort  of  life  in  this  country. 

As  soon  as  our  respective  surgeons  had  clarified  our  flesh  and 
our  bones  with  calomel,  had  brought  our  pulses  to  beat  calmly,  our 
tongues  to  ply  gently,  and  our  stomachs  to  digest  moderately ;  we 
began  to  feel  pleasure  exquisitely  in  our  convalescence,  and  draw 
amusement  from  mutual  relations  of  scenes  and  adventures  we  had 
witnessed  on  our  several  marches.  The  Captain  convalescing  faster 
than  I  did,  soon  got  so  as  to  eat  (but  not  to  digest)  enormous  meals, 
which  visited  back  upon  him  the  renewed  horrors  of  his  disease ;  and 
I,  who  had  got  ahead  of  him  in  strength,  but  not  in  prudence,  was 
thrown  back  in  my  turn,  by  similar  indulgence;  and  so  we  were 


101 


mutually  and  repeatedly,  until  he  at  length  got  so  as  to  feel  strength 
enough  to  ride,  and  resolution  enough  to  swear  that  he  would  take 
leave  of  that  deadly  spot,  and  seek  restoration  and  health  in  a  cooler 
and  more  congenial  latitude.  So  he  had  his  horse  brought  up  one 
morning,  whilst  he  was  so  weak  that  he  could  scarcely  mount  upon 
its  back,  and  with  his  servant,  a  small  negro  boy,  packed  on  another, 
he  steered  off  upon  the  prairies  towards  Fort  Leavenworth,  500 
miles  to  the  north,  where  his  company  had  long  since  marched. 

I  remained  a  week  or  two  longer,  envying  the  Captain  the  good 
luck  to  escape  from  that  dangerous  ground ;  and  after  I  had  gained 
strength  sufficient  to  warrant  it,  I  made  preparations  to  take  informal 
leave,  and  wend  my  way  also  over  the  prairies  to  the  Missouri,  a 
distance  of  500  miles,  and  most  of  the  way  a  solitary  wilderness. 
For  this  purpose  I  had  my  horse  “Charley”  brought  up  from  his 
pasture,  where  he  had  been  in  good  keeping  during  my  illness,  and 
got  so  fat  as  to  form  almost  an  objectionable  contrast  to  his  master, 
with  whom  he  was  to  embark  on  a  long  and  tedious  journey  again, 
over  the  vast  and  almost  boundless  prairies. 

I  had,  like  the  Captain,  grown  into  such  a  dread  of  that  place, 
from  the  scenes  of  death  that  were  and  had  been  visited  upon  it, 
that  I  resolved  to  be  off  as  soon  as  I  had  strength  to  get  on  to  my 
horse,  and  balance  myself  upon  his  back.  For  this  purpose  I  packed 
up  my  canvas  and  brushes,  and  other  luggage,  and  sent  them  down 
the  river  to  the  Mississippi,  to  be  forwarded  by  steamer,  to  meet  me 
at  St  Louis.  So,  one  fine  morning,  Charley  was  brought  up  and 
saddled,  and  a  bear-skin  and  a  buffalo  robe  being  spread  upon  his 
saddle,  and  a  coffee-pot  and  tin  cup  tied  to  it  also — with  a  few 
pounds  of  hard  biscuit  in  my  portmanteau — with  my  fowling-piece 
in  my  hand,  and  my  pistols  in  my  belt — with  my  sketch-book  slung 
on  my  back,  and  a  small  pocket  compass  in  my  pocket ;  I  took  leave 
of  Fort  Gibson,  even  against  the  advice  of  my  surgeon  and  all  the 
officers  of  the  garrison,  who  gathered  around  me  to  bid  me  farewell. 
No  argument  could  contend  with  the  fixed  resolve  in  my  own  mind 
that  if  I  could  get  out  upon  the  prairies,  and  moving  continually  to 
the  northward,  I  should  daily  gain  strength,  and  save  myself, 
possibly,  from  the  jaws  of  that  voracious  burial-ground  that  lay  in 
front  of  my  room ;  where  I  had  for  months  lain  and  imagined  myself 
going  with  other  poor  fellows,  whose  mournful  dirges  were  played 
under  my  window  from  day  to  day.  No  one  can  imagine  what  was 
the  dread  I  felt  for  that  place ;  nor  the  pleasure,  which  was  ecstatic, 
when  Charley  was  trembling  under  me,  and  I  turned  him  around  on 
the  top  of  a  prairie  bluff  at  a  mile  distance,  to  take  the  last  look 


102 


upon  it,  and  thank  God,  as  I  did  audibly,  that  I  was  not  to  be  buried 
within  its  enclosure.  I  said  to  myself,  that  “  to  die  on  the  prairie, 
and  be  devoured  by  wolves ;  or  to  fall  in  combat  and  be  scalped  by 
an  Indian,  would  be  far  more  acceptable  than  the  lingering  death 
that  would  consign  me  to  the  jaws  of  that  insatiable  grave,”  for 
which,  in  the  fever  and  weakness  of  my  mind,  I  had  contracted  so 
destructive  a  terror. 

So,  alone,  without  other  living  being  with  me  than  my  affectionate 
horse  Charley,  I  turned  my  face  to  the  north,  and  commenced  on 
my  long  journey,  with  confidence  full  and  strong,  that  I  should  gain 
strength  daily  ;  and  no  one  can  ever  know  the  pleasure  of  that  moment, 
which  placed  me  alone,  upon  the  boundless  sea  of  waving  grass,  over 
which  my  proud  horse  was  prancing,  and  I  with  my  life  in  my  own 
hands,  commenced  to  steer  my  course  to  the  banks  of  the  Missouri. 

For  the  convalescent,  rising  and  escaping  from  the  gloom  and 
horrors  of  a  sick  bed,  astride  of  his  strong  and  trembling  horse,  carry¬ 
ing  him  fast  and  safely  over  green  fields  spotted  and  tinted  with 
waving  wild  flowers ;  and  through  the  fresh  and  cool  breezes  that  are 
rushing  about  him,  as  he  daily  shortens  the  distance  that  lies  between 
him  and  his  wife  and  little  ones,  there  is  an  exquisite  pleasure  yet  to 
be  learned  by  those  who  never  have  felt  it. 

Day  by  day  I  thus  pranced  and  galloped  along,  the  whole  way 
through  waving  grass  and  green  fields,  occasionally  dismounting  and 
lying  in  the  grass  an  hour  or  so,  until  the  grim  shaking  and  chatter¬ 
ing  of  an  ague  chill  had  passed  off ;  and  through  the  nights,  slept  on 
my  bear-skin  spread  upon  the  grass,  with  my  saddle  for  my  pillow, 
and  my  buffalo  robe  drawn  over  me  for  my  covering.  My  horse 
Charley  was  picketed  near  me  at  the  end  of  his  lasso,  which  gave  him 
room  for  his  grazing ;  and  thus  we  snored  and  nodded  away  the  nights, 
and  never  were  denied  the  doleful  serenades  of  the  gangs  of  sneaking 
wolves  that  were  nightly  perambulating  our  little  encampment,  and 
stationed  at  a  safe  distance  from  us  at  sunrise  in  the  morning — 
gazing  at  us,  and  impatient  to  pick  up  the  crumbs  and  bones  that 
were  left,  when  we  moved  away  from  our  feeble  fire  that  had  faintly 
flickered  through  the  night,  and  in  the  absence  of  timber,  had  been 
made  of  dried  buffalo  dung  (Fig.  184). 

This  “  Charley  ”  was  a  noble  animal  of  the  Camanchee  wild  breed, 
of  a  clay-bank  colour;  and  from  our  long  and  tried  acquaintance,  we 
had  become  very  much  attached  to  each  other,  and  acquired  a  won¬ 
derful  facility  both  of  mutual  accommodation,  and  of  construing  each 
other’s  views  and  intentions.  In  fact,  we  had  been  so  long  tried 
together,  that  there  would  have  seemed  to  the  spectator  almost  a  unity 


k  _ 


103 


of  interest;  and  at  all  events,  a  unity  of  feelings  on  the  subject 
of  attachment,  as  well  as  on  that  of  mutual  dependence  and 
protection. 

I  purchased  this  very  showy  and  well-known  animal  of  Col.  Bur¬ 
bank,  of  the  9th  regiment,  and  rode  it  the  whole  distance  to  the 
Camanchee  villages  and  back  again ;  and  at  the  time  when  most  of 
the  horses  of  the  regiment  were  drooping  and  giving  out  by  the  way 
— Charley  flourished  and  came  in  in  good  flesh  and  good  spirits. 

On  this  journey,  while  he  and  I  were  twenty-five  days  alone,  we 
had  much  time,  and  the  best  of  circumstances,  under  which  to  learn 
what  we  had  as  yet  overlooked  in  each  other’s  characters,  as  well  as 
to  draw  great  pleasure  and  real  benefit  from  what  we  already  had 
learned  of  each  other  in  our  former  travels. 

I  generally  halted  on  the  bank  of  some  little  stream,  at  half  an 
hour’s  sun,  where  feed  was  good  for  Charley,  and  where  I  could  get 
wood  to  kindle  my  fire,  and  water  for  my  coffee.  The  first  thing  was 
to  undress  “  Charley,”  and  drive  down  his  picket,  to  which  he  was 
fastened,  to  graze  over  a  circle  that  he  could  inscribe  at  the  end  of 
his  lasso.  In  this  wise  he  busily  fed  himself  until  nightfall;  and  after 
my  coffee  was  made  and  drank,  I  uniformly  moved  him  up,  with  his 
picket  by  my  head,  so  that  I  could  lay  my  hand  upon  his  lasso  in  an 
instant,  in  case  of  any  alarm  that  was  liable  to  drive  him  from  me. 
On  one  of  these  evenings  when  he  was  grazing  as  usual,  he  slipped 
the  lasso  over  his  head,  and  deliberately  took  his  supper  at  his 
pleasure,  wherever  he  chose  to  prefer  it,  as  he  was  strolling  around. 
When  night  approached,  I  took  the  lasso  in  hand  and  endeavoured  to 
catch  him,  but  I  soon  saw  that  he  was  determined  to  enjoy  a  little 
freedom ;  and  he  continually  evaded  me  until  dark,  when  I  abandoned 
the  pursuit,  making  up  my  mind  that  I  should  inevitably  lose  him, 
and  be  obliged  to  perform  the  rest  of  my  journey  on  foot.  He  had 
led  me  a  chase  of  half  a  mile  or  more,  when  I  left  him  busily  grazing, 
and  returned  to  my  little  solitary  bivouac,  and  laid  myself  on  my 
bear-skin,  and  went  to  sleep. 

In  the  middle  of  the  night  I  waked,  whilst  I  was  lying  on  my 
back,  and  on  half  opening  my  eyes,  I  was  instantly  shocked  to  the 
soul,  by  the  huge  figure  (as  I  thought)  of  an  Indian,  standing  over 
me,  and  in  the  very  instant  of  taking  my  scalp !  The  chill  of  horror 
that  paralysed  me  for  the  first  moment,  held  me  still  till  I  saw  there 
was  no  need  of  my  moving — that  my  faithful  horse  “Charley”  had 
“  played  shy  ”  till  he  had  “  filled  his  belly,”  and  had  then  moved  up, 
from  feelings  of  pure  affection,  or  from  instinctive  fear,  or  possibly, 
from  a  due  share  of  both,  and  taken  his  position  with  his  fore  feet  at 


104 


the  edge  of  my  bed,  with  his  head  hanging  directly  over  me,  while  he 
was  standing  fast  asleep  ! 

My  nerves,  which  had  been  most  violently  shocked,  were  soon 
quieted,  and  I  fell  asleep,  and  so  continued  until  sunrise  in  the  morn¬ 
ing,  when  I  awoke,  and  beheld  my  faithful  servant  at  some  consider¬ 
able  distance,  busily  at  work  picking  up  his  breakfast  amongst  the 
cane-brake,  along  the  bank  of  the  creek.  I  went  as  busily  to  work, 
preparing  my  own,  which  was  eaten ;  and  after  it  I  had  another  half- 
hour  of  fruitless  endeavours  to  catch  Charley,  whilst  he  seemed  mind¬ 
ful  of  success  on  the  evening  before,  and  continually  tantalised  me 
by  turning  around  and  around,  and  keeping  out  of  my  reach.  I  re¬ 
collected  the  conclusive  evidence  of  his  attachment  and  dependence, 
which  he  had  voluntarily  given  in  the  night,  and  I  thought  I  would 
try  them  in  another  way.  So  I  packed  up  my  things  and  slung  the 
saddle  on  my  back,  trailing  my  gun  in  my  hand,  and  started  on  my 
route.  After  I  had  advanced  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  I  looked  back,  and 
saw  him  standing  with  his  head  and  tail  very  high,  looking  alter¬ 
nately  at  me  and  at  the  spot  where  I  had  been  encamped,  and  left  a 
little  fire  burning.  In  this  condition  he  stood  and  surveyed  the 
prairies  around  for  a  while,  as  I  continued  on.  He,  at  length, 
walked  with  a  hurried  step  to  the  spot,  and  seeing  everything 
gone,  began  to  neigh  very  violently,  and  at  last  started  off  at  fullest 
speed,  and  overtook  me,  passing  within  a  few  paces  of  me,  and 
wheeling  about  at  a  few  rods  distance  in  front  of  me,  trembling  like 
an  aspen  leaf. 

I  called  him  by  his  familiar  name,  and  walked  up  to  him  with 
the  bridle  in  my  hand,  which  I  put  over  his  head,  as  he  held  it  down 
for  me,  and  the  saddle  on  his  back,  as  he  actually  stooped  to  receive 
it.  I  was  soon  arranged,  and  on  his  back,  when  he  started  off  upon 
his  course  as  if  he  was  well  contented  and  pleased,  like  his  rider, 
with  the  manoeuvre  which  had  brought  us  together  again,  and  afforded 
us  mutual  relief  from  our  awkward  positions.  Though  this  alarming 
freak  of  “  Charley’s  ”  passed  off  and  terminated  so  satisfactorily ;  yet 
I  thought  such  rather  dangerous  ones  to  play,  and  I  took  good  care 
after  that  night,  to  keep  him  under  my  strict  authority ;  resolving  to 
avoid  further  tricks  and  experiments  till  we  got  to  the  land  of 
cultivated  fields  and  steady  habits. 

On  the  night  of  this  memorable  day,  Charley  and  I  stopped  in 
one  of  the  most  lovely  little  valleys  I  ever  saw,  and  even  far  more 
beautiful  than  could  have  been  imagined  by  mortal  man.  An 
enchanting  little  lawn  of  five  or  six  acres,  on  the  banks  of  a  cool  and 
rippling  stream,  that  was  alive  with  fish ;  and  every  now  and  then* 


105 


a  fine  brood  of  young  ducks,  just  old  enough  for  delicious  food,  and 
too  unsophisticated  to  avoid  an  easy  and  simple  death.  This  little 
lawn  was  surrounded  by  bunches  and  copses  of  the  most  luxuriant 
and  picturesque  foliage,  consisting  of  the  lofty  bois  d’arcs  and  elms, 
spreading  out  their  huge  branches,  as  if  offering  protection  to  the 
rounded  groups  of  cherry  and  plum  trees  that  supported  festoons  of 
grape-vines,  with  their  purple  clusters  that  hung  in  the  most  tempt¬ 
ing  manner  over  the  green  carpet  that  was  everywhere  decked  out 
with  wild  flowers,  of  all  tints  and  of  various  sizes,  from  the  modest 
wild  sun-flowers,  with  their  thousand  tall  and  drooping  heads,  to  the 
lilies  that  stood,  and  the  violets  that  crept  beneath  them.  By  the 
side  of  this  cool  stream,  Charley  was  fastened,  and  near  him  my 
bear-skin  was  spread  in  the  grass,  and  by  it  my  little  fire,  to  which  I 
soon  brought  a  fine  string  of  perch  from  the  brook ;  from  which, 
and  a  broiled  duck,  and  a  delicious  cup  of  coffee,  I  made  my  dinner 
and  supper,  which  were  usually  united  in  one  meal,  at  half  an  hour’s 
sun.  After  this  I  strolled  about  this  sweet  little  paradise,  which  I 
found  was  chosen,  not  only  by  myself,  but  by  the  wild  deer,  which 
were  repeatedly  rising  from  their  quiet  lairs,  and  bounding  out, 
and  over  the  graceful  swells  of  the  prairies  which  hemmed  in  and 
framed  this  little  picture  of  sweetest  tints  and  most  masterly 
touches. 

The  Indians,  also,  I  found,  had  loved  it  once,  and  left  it;  for 
here  and  there  were  their  solitary  and  deserted  graves,  which  told, 
though  briefly,  of  former  chants  and  sports ;  and  perhaps,  of  wars 
and  deaths,  that  have  once  rung  and  echoed  through  this  little  silent 
vale. 

On  my  return  to  my  encampment,  I  lay  down  upon  my  back, 
and  looked  awhile  into  the  blue  heavens  that  were  over  me,  with 
their  pure  and  milk-white  clouds  that  were  passing — with  the  sun 
just  setting  in  the  west,  and  the  silver  moon  rising  in  the  east, 
and  renewed  the  impressions  of  my  own  insignificance,  as  I  con¬ 
templated  the  incomprehensible  mechanism  of  that  wonderful  clock, 
whose  time  is  infallible,  and  whose  motion  is  eternity !  I  trembled, 
at  last,  at  the  dangerous  expanse  of  my  thoughts,  and  turned  them 
again,  and  my  eyes,  upon  the  little  and  more  comprehensible  things 
that  were  about  me.  One  of  the  first  was  a  nevispaper,  which  I  had 
brought  from  the  G-arrison,  the  National  Intelligencer  of  Washington, 
which  I  had  read  for  years,  but  never  with  quite  the  zest  and  relish 
that  I  now  conversed  over  its  familiar  columns,  in  this  clean  and 
sweet  valley  of  dead  silence  ! 

And  while  reading,  I  thought  of  (and  laughed),  what  I  had 

G* 


106 


almost  forgotten,  the  sensation  I  produced  amongst  the  Minatarees 
while  on  the  Upper  Missouri,  a  few  years  since,  by  taking  from 
amongst  my  painting  apparatus  an  old  number  of  the  New  York 
Commercial  Advertiser,  edited  by  my  kind  and  tried  friend  Colonel 
Stone.  The  Minatarees  thought  that  I  was  mad,  when  they  saw  me 
for  hours  together,  with  my  eyes  fixed  upon  its  pages.  They  had 
different  and  various  conjectures  about  it ;  the  most  current  of  which 
was,  that  I  was  looking  at  it  to  cure  my  sore  eyes,  and  they  called 
it  the  11  medicine  cloth  for  sore  eyes  !”  I  at  length  put  an  end  to  this 
and  several  equally  ignorant  conjectures,  by  reading  passages  in  it, 
which  were  interpreted  to  them,  and  the  objects  of  the  paper  fully 
explained;  after  which,  it  was  looked  upon  as  much  greater  mystery 
than  before ;  and  several  liberal  offers  were  made  me  for  it,  which 
I  was  obliged  to  refuse,  having  already  received  a  beautifully 
garnished  robe  for  it,  from  the  hands  of  a  young  son  of  iEsculapius, 
who  told  me  that  if  he  could  employ  a  good  interpreter  to  explain 
everything  in  it,  he  could  travel  about  amongst  the  Minatarees  and 
Mandans,  and  Sioux,  and  exhibit  it  after  I  was  gone ;  getting  rich 
with  presents,  and  adding  greatly  to  the  list  of  his  medicines,  as  it 
would  make  him  a  great  Medicine-Man.  I  left  with  the  poor  fellow 
his  painted  robe,  and  the  newspaper;  and  just  before  I  departed,  I 
saw  him  unfolding  it  to  show  to  some  of  his  friends,  when  he  took 
from  around  it,  some  eight  or  ten  folds  of  birch  bark  and  deer  skins ; 
all  of  which  were  carefully  enclosed  in  a  sack  made  of  the  skin  of 
a  polecat,  and  undoubtedly  destined  to  become,  and  to  be  called,  his 
mystery  or  medicine-lag. 

The  distance  from  Fort  Gibson  to  the  Missouri,  where  I  struck 
the  river,  is  about  five  hundred  miles,  and  most  of  the  way  a  beautiful 
prairie,  in  a  wild  and  uncultivated  state,  without  roads  and  without 
bridges,  over  a  great  part  of  which  I  steered  my  course  with  my 
pocket-compass,  fording  and  swimming  the  streams  in  the  best 
manner  I  could ;  shooting  prairie  hens,  and  occasionally  catching 
fish,  which  I  cooked  for  my  meals,  and  slept  upon  the  ground  at 
night.  On  my  way  I  visited  “Kiqua’s  Village”  of  Osages,  and 
lodged  during  the  night  in  the  hospitable  cabin  of  my  old  friend 
Beatte,  of  whom  I  have  often  spoken  heretofore,  as  one  .of  the  guides 
and  hunters  for  the  dragoons  on  their  campaign  in  the  Camanchee 
country.  This  was  the  most  extraordinary  hunter,  I  think,  that  I 
ever  have  met  in  all  my  travels.  To'1  hunt"  was  a  phrase  almost 
foreign  to  him,  however,  for  when  he  went  out  with  his  rifle,  it  was 
“  for  meat,"  or  “for  cattle  ;  ”  and  he  never  came  in  without  it.  He  never 
told  how  many  animals  he  had  seen — how  many  he  had  wounded, 


107 


etc. — but  his  horse  was  always  loaded  with  meat,  which  was  thrown 
down  in  camp  without  comment  or  words  spoken.  Kiqua  was  an 
early  pioneer  of  Christianity  in  this  country,  who  has  devoted  many 
years  of  his  life,  with  his  interesting  family,  in  endeavouring  to 
civilise  and  Christianise  these  people,  by  the  force  of  pious  and 
industrious  examples,  which  he  has  successfully  set  them ;  and,  I 
think,  in  the  most  judicious  way,  by  establishing  a  little  village, 
at  some  miles  distance  from  the  villages  of  the  Osages;  where  he 
has  invited  a  considerable  number  of  families,  who  have  taken 
their  residence  by  the  side  of  him ;  where  they  are  following  his 
virtuous  examples  in  their  dealings  and  modes  of  life,  and  in 
agricultural  pursuits  which  he  is  teaching  them,  and  showing 
them  that  they  may  raise  the  comforts  and  luxuries  of  life  out  of 
the  ground,  instead  of  seeking  for  them  in  the  precarious  manner  in 
which  they  naturally  look  for  them,  in  the  uncertainty  of  the 
chase. 

It  was  a  source  of  much  regret  to  me,  that  I  did  not  see  this 
pious  man,  as  he  was  on  a  Tour  to  the  East,  when  I  was  in  his  little 
village. 

Beatte  lived  in  this  village  with  his  aged  parents,  to  whom  he 
introduced  me ;  and  with  whom,  altogether,  I  spent  a  very  pleasant 
evening  in  conversation.  They  are  both  French,  and  have  spent  the 
greater  part  of  their  lives  with  the  Osages,  and  seem  to  be  familiar 
with  their  whole  history.  This  Beatte  was  the  hunter  and  guide  for 
a  party  of  rangers  (the  summer  before  our  campaign)  with  whom 
Washington  Irving  made  his  excursion  to  the  borders  of  the  Pawnee 
country ;  and  of  whose  extraordinary  character  and  powers,  Mr 
Irving  has  drawn  a  very  just  and  glowing  account,  excepting  one 
error  which  I  think  he  has  inadvertently  fallen  into,  that  of  calling 
him  a  “  half -breed’'  Beatte  had  complained  of  this  to  me  often  while 
out  on  the  prairies ;  and  when  I  entered  his  hospitable  cabin,  he 
said  he  was  glad  to  see  me,  and  almost  instantly  continued,  “Now 
you  shall  see,  Monsieur  Catline,  I  am  not  ‘  half -breed’  Plere  I  shall 
introduce  you  to  my  father  and  my  mother,  who  you  see  are  two  very 
nice  and  good  old  French  people.” 

From  this  cabin,  where  I  fared  well  and  slept  soundly,  I  started 
in  the  morning,  after  taking  with  them  a  good  cup  of  coffee,  and  went 
smoothly  on  over  the  prairies  on  my  course. 

About  the  middle  of  my  journey,  I  struck  a  road  leading  into  a 
small  civilised  settlement,  called  the  “  Kiclcapoo  prairie,’’  to  which  I 
“  bent  my  course ;  ”  and  riding  up  to  a  log  cabin  which  was  kept  as  a 
sort  of  an  hotel  or  tavern,  I  met  at  the  door,  the  black  boy  belonging 


1 


108 


to  my  friend  Captain  Wharton,  whom  I  have  said  took  his  leave  of 
Fort  Gibson  a  few  weeks  before  me ;  I  asked  the  boy  where  his  master 
was,  to  which  he  replied,  “  My  good  massa,  Massa  Wharton,  in  dese 
house,  jist  dead  ob  de  libber  compliment !  ”  I  dismounted  and  went 
in,  and  to  my  deepest  sorrow  and  anguish,  I  found  him,  as  the  boy 
said,  nearly  dead,  without  power  to  raise  his  head  or  his  voice — his 
eyes  were  rolled  upon  me,  and  as  he  recognised  me  he  took  me  by  the 
hand,  which  he  firmly  gripped,  whilst  both  shed  tears  in  profusion. 
By  placing  my  ear  to  his  lips,  his  whispers  could  be  heard,  and  he 
was  able  in  an  imperfect  manner  to  make  his  views  and  his  wishes 
known.  His  disease  seemed  to  be  a  repeated  attack  of  his  former 
malady,  and  a  severe  affection  of  the  liver,  which  was  to  be  (as  his 
physician  said)  the  proximate  cause  of  his  death.  I  conversed  with 
his  physician,  who  seemed  to  be  a  young  and  inexperienced  man,  who 
told  me  that  he  certainly  could  not  live  more  than  ten  days.  I  staid 
two  days  with  him,  and  having  no  means  with  me  of  rendering  him 
pecuniary  or  other  aid  amongst  strangers,  I  left  him  in  kind  hands, 
and  started  on  my  course  again.  My  health  improved  daily,  from 
the  time  of  my  setting  out  at  Fort  Gibson ;  and  I  was  now  moving 
along  cheerfully,  and  in  hopes  soon  to  reach  the  end  of  my  toilsome 
journey.  I  had  yet  vast  prairies  to  pass  over,  and  occasional  latent 
difficulties,  which  were  not  apparent  on  their  smooth  and  deceiving 
surfaces.  Deep  sunken  streams,  like  ditches,  occasionally  presented 
themselves  suddenly  to  my  view,  when  I  was  within  a  few  steps  of 
plunging  into  them  from  their  perpendicular  sides,  which  were  over¬ 
hung  with  long  wild  grass,  and  almost  obscured  from  the  sight.  The 
bearings  of  my  compass  told  me  that  I  must  cross  them,  and  the  only 
alternative  was  to  plunge  into  them,  and  get  out  as  well  as  I  could. 
They  were  often  muddy,  and  I  could  not  tell  whether  they  were  three 
or  ten  feet  deep,  until  my  horse  was  in  them ;  and  sometimes  he  went 
down  head  foremost,  and  I  with  him,  to  scramble  out  on  the  opposite 
shore  in  the  best  condition  we  could.  In  one  of  these  canals,  which 
I  had  followed  for  several  miles  in  the  vain  hope  of  finding  a  shoal, 
or  an  accustomed  ford,  I  plunged  with  Charley,  where  it  was  about 
six  or  eight  yards  wide  (and  God  knows  how  deep,  for  we  did  not  go 
to  the  bottom),  and  swam  him  to  the  opposite  bank,  on  to  which  I 
clung ;  and  which,  being  perpendicular  and  of  clay,  and  three  or  four 
feet  higher  than  the  water,  was  an  insurmountable  difficulty  to 
Charley ;  and  I  led  the  poor  fellow  at  least  a  mile,  as  I  walked  on  the 
top  of  the  bank,  with  the  bridle  in  my  hand,  holding  his  head  above 
the  water  as  he  was  swimming ;  and  I  at  times  almost  inextricably 
tangled  in  the  long  grass  that  was  often  higher  than  my  head,  and 


109 


hanging  over  the  brink,  filled  and  woven  together,  with  ivy  and 
wild  pea-vines.  I  at  length  (and  just  before  I  was  ready  to  drop 
the  rein  of  faithful  Charley,  in  hopeless  despair),  came  to  an  old 
buffalo  ford,  where  the  banks  were  graded  down,  and  the  poor 
exhausted  animal  at  last  got  out,  and  was  ready  and  willing  to 
take  me  and  my  luggage  (after  I  had  dried  them  in  the  sun)  on  the 
journey  again. 

The  Osage  Eiver,  which  is  a  powerful  stream,  I  struck  at  a  place 
which  seemed  to  stagger  my  courage  very  much.  There  had  been 
heavy  rains  but  a  few  days  before,  and  this  furious  stream  was 
rolling  along  its  wild  and  turbid  waters,  with  a  freshet  upon  it,  that 
spread  its  waters  in  many  places  over  its  banks,  as  was  the  case  at 
the  place  where  I  encountered  it.  There  seemed  to  be  but  little 
choice  in  places  with  this  stream,  which,  with  its  banks  full,  was 
sixty  or  eighty  yards  in  width,  with  a  current  that  was  sweeping 
along  at  a  rapid  rate.  I  stripped  everything  from  Charley,  and  tied 
him  with  his  lasso,  until  I  travelled  the  shores  up  and  down  for  some 
distance,  and  collected  drift  wood  enough  for  a  small  raft,  which  I 
constructed,  to  carry  my  clothes  and  saddle,  and  other  things,  safe 
over.  This  being  completed,  and  my  clothes  taken  off,  and  they 
with  other  things  laid  upon  the  raft,  I  took  Charley  to  the  bank  and 
drove  him  in  and  across,  where  he  soon  reached  the  opposite  shore, 
and  went  to  feeding  on  the  bank.  Next  was  to  come  the  “  great  white 
medicine;”  and  with  him,  saddle,  bridle,  saddle-bags,  sketch-book, 
gun  and  pistols,  coffee  and  coffee-pot,  powder,  and  his  clothes,  all  of 
which  were  placed  upon  the  raft,  and  the  raft  pushed  into  the 
stream,  and  the  “  medicine-man  ”  swimming  behind  it,  and  pushing 
it  along  before  him,  until  it  reached  the  opposite  shore,  at  least  half 
a  mile  below !  From  this,  his  things  were  carried  to  the  top  of  the 
bank,  and  in  a  little  time,  Charley  was  caught  and  dressed,  and 
straddled,  and  on  the  way  again. 

These  are  a  few  of  the  incidents  of  that  journey  of  500  miles 
which  I  performed  entirely  alone,  and  which  at  last  brought  me  out 
at  Boonville  on  the  western  bank  of  the  Missouri.  While  I  was 
crossing  the  river  at  that  place,  I  met  General  Arbuclde,  with  two 
surgeons,  who  were  to  start  the  next  day  from  Boonville  for  Fort 
Gibson,  travelling  over  the  route  that  I  had  just  passed.  I  instantly 
informed  them  of  the  condition  of  poor  Wharton,  and  the  two 
surgeons  were  started  off  that  afternoon  at  fullest  speed,  with  orders 
to  reach  him  in  the  shortest  time  possible,  and  do  everything  to  save 
his  life.  I  assisted  in  purchasing  for  him,  several  little  things  that 
he  had  named  to  me,  such  as  jellies — acids — apples,  etc.,  etc. ;  and 


110 


saw  them  start ;  and  (God  knows),  I  shall  impatiently  hope  to  hear 
of  their  timely  assistance,  and  of  his  recovery.* 

From  Boonville,  which  is  a  very  pretty  little  town,  building  up 
with  the  finest  style  of  brick  houses,  I  crossed  the  river  to  New 
Franklin,  where  I  lay  by  several  days,  on  account  of  stormy  weather ; 
and  from  thence  proceeded  with  success  to  the  end  of  my  journey, 
where  I  now  am,  under  the  roof  of  kind  and  hospitable  friends,  with 
my  dear  wife,  who  has  patiently  waited  one  year  to  receive  me  back, 
a  wreck,  as  I  now  am ;  and  who  is  to  start  in  a  few  days  with  me  to 
to  the  coast  of  Florida,  1400  miles  south  of  this,  to  spend  the  winter 
in  patching  up  my  health,  and  fitting  me  for  future  campaigns. 

On  this  Tour  (from  which  I  shall  return  in  the  spring,  if  my 
health  will  admit  of  it),  I  shall  visit  the  Seminoles  in  Florida — the 
Euchees — the  Creeks  in  Alabama  and  Georgia,  and  the  Choctaws 
and  Cherokees,  who  are  yet  remaining  on  their  lands,  on  the  east 
side  of  the  Mississippi. 

We  take  steamer  for  New  Orleans  to-morrow,  so,  till  after 
another  campaign,  Adieu. 

*  I  have  great  satisfaction  in  informing  the  reader,  that  I  learned  a  year  or  so 
after  the  above  date,  that  those  two  skilful  surgeons  hastened  on  with  all  possible 
speed  to  the  assistance  ot  this  excellent  gentleman,  and  had  the  satisfaction  of  con¬ 
ducting  him  to  his  post,  after  he  had  entirely  and  permanently  recovered  his 
health. 


LETTEE— No.  47 


ST  LOUIS 

Since  the  date  of  my  last  Letter,  a  whole  long  winter  has  passed 
off,  which  I  have  whiled  away  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  about 
the  shores  of  Florida  and  Texas.  My  health  was  soon  restored 
by  the  congenial  climate  I  there  found,  and  my  dear  wife  was  my 
companion  the  whole  way.  We  visited  the  different  posts,  and  all 
that  we  could  find  to  interest  us  in  these  delightful  realms,  and 
took  steamer  from  New  Orleans  to  this  place,  where  we  arrived  but 
a  few  days  since. 

Supposing  that  the  reader  by  this  time  may  be  somewhat  tired  of 
following  me  in  my  erratic  wanderings  over  these  wild  regions,  I  have 
resolved  to  sit  down  awhile  before  I  go  further,  and  open  to  him  my 
■sJc -etch-book,  in  which  I  have  made  a  great  many  entries,  as  I  have 
been  dodging  about,  and  which  I  have  not  as  yet  showed  to  him,  for 
want  of  requisite  time  and  proper  opportunity. 

In  opening  this  book,  the  reader  will  allow  me  to  turn  over  leaf 
after  leaf,  and  describe  to  him,  tribe  after  tribe,  and  chief  after  chief, 
of  many  of  those  whom  I  have  visited,  without  the  tediousness  of 
travelling  too  minutely  over  the  intervening  distances ;  in  which  I 
fear  I  might  lose  him  as  a  fellow-traveller,  and  leave  him  fagged 
out  by  the  wayside,  before  he  would  see  all  that  I  am  anxious  to 
show  him. 

About  a  year  since,  I  made  a  visit  to  the 

Kickapoos, 

at  present  but  a  small  tribe,  numbering  GOO  or  800,  the  remnant  of  a 
once  numerous  and  warlike  tribe.  They  are  residing  within  the 
State  of  Illinois,  near  the  south  end  of  Lake  Michigan,  and  living  in 
a  poor  and  miserable  condition,  although  they  have  one  of  the  finest 
countries  in  the  world.  They  have  been  reduced  in  numbers  by 
whiskey  and  small-pox,  and  the  game  being  destroyed  in  their  country, 
and  having  little  industry  to  work,  they  are  exceedingly  poor  and 
dependent.  In  fact,  there  is  very  little  inducement  for  them  to 
build  houses  and  cultivate  their  farms,  for  they  own  so  large  and  so 

fine  a  tract  of  country,  which  is  now  completely  surrounded  by 

111 


112 


civilised  settlements,  that  they  know,  from  experience,  they  will  soon 
he  obliged  to  sell  out  their  country  for  a  trifle,  and  move  to  the  west. 
This  system  of  moving  has  already  commenced  with  them,  and  a 
considerable  party  have  located  on  a  tract  of  lands  offered  to  them 
on  the  west  bank  of  the  Missouri  Eiver,  a  little  north  of  Tort 
Leavenworth.* 

The  Kickapoos  have  long  lived  in  alliance  with  the  Sacs  and 
Foxes,  and  speak  a  language  so  similar  that  they  seem  almost  to  be 
of  one  family.  The  present  chief  of  this  tribe,  whose  name  is  Kee- 
an-ne-Jcuk  (the  foremost  man,  Fig.  185),  usually  called  the  Shawnee 
Prophet,  is  a  very  shrewd  and  talented  man.  When  he  sat  for  his 
portrait,  he  took  his  attitude  as  seen  in  the  picture,  which  was  that 
of  prayer.  And  I  soon  learned  that  he  was  a  very  devoted  Christian, 
regularly  holding  meetings  in  his  tribe,  on  the  Sabbath,  preaching  te 
them  and  exhorting  them  to  a  belief  in  the  Christian  religion,  and  to 
an  abandonment  of  the  fatal  habit  of  whiskey-drinking,  which  he 
strenuously  represented  as  the  bane  that  was  to  destroy  them  all,  if 
they  did  not  entirely  cease  to  use  it.  I  went  on  the  Sabbath  to  hear 
this  eloquent  man  preach,  when  he  had  his  people  assembled  in  the 
woods ;  and  although  I  could  not  understand  his  language,  I  was 
surprised  and  pleased  with  the  natural  ease  and  emphasis,  and 
gesticulation,  which  carried  their  own  evidence  of  the  eloquence  of 
his  sermon. 

I  was  singularly  struck  with  the  noble  efforts  of  this  champion  of 
the  mere  remnant  of  a  poisoned  race,  so  strenuously  labouring  to 
rescue  the  remainder  of  his  people  from  the  deadly  bane  that  has 
been  brought  amongst  them  by  enlightened  Christians.  How  far  the 
efforts  of  this  zealous  man  have  succeeded  in  Christianising,  I  cannot 
tell,  but  it  is  quite  certain  that  his  exemplary  and  constant  endea¬ 
vours  have  completely  abolished  the  practice  of  drinking  whiskey  in 
his  tribe ;  which  alone  is  a  very  praiseworthy  achievement,  and  the 
first  and  indispensable  step  towards  all  other  improvements.  I  was 
some  time  amongst  these  people,  and  was  exceedingly  pleased,  and 
surprised  also,  to  witness  their  sobriety,  and  their  peaceable  conduct ; 
not  having  seen  an  instance  of  drunkenness,  or  seen  or  heard  of  any 
use  made  of  spirituous  liquors  whilst  I  was  amongst  the  tribe. 

Ali-ton-w e-tuck  (the  cock  turkey,  Fig.  186),  is  another  Kickapoo  of 
some  distinction,  and  a  disciple  of  the  Prophet;  in  the  attitude  of 
prayer  also,  which  he  is  reading  off  from  characters  cut  upon  a  stick  that 
he  holds  in  his  hands.  It  was  told  to  me  in  the  tribe  by  the  Traders 

*  Since  the  above  was  written,  the  whole  of  this  tribe  have  been  removed  beyond 
the  Missouri,  having  sold  out  their  lands  in  the  State  of  Illinois  to  the  Government. 


112 


■aJhn. 


IS  8 


187 


113 


(though  I  am  afraid  to  vouch  for  the  whole  truth  of  it),  that  while  a 
Methodist  preacher  was  soliciting  him  for  permission  to  preach  in 
his  village,  the  Prophet  refused  him  the  privilege,  but  secretly  took 
him  aside  and  supported  him  until  he  learned  from  him  his  creed, 
and  his  system  of  teaching  it  to  others ;  when  he  discharged  him,  and 
commenced  preaching  amongst  his  people  himself ;  pretending  to 
have  had  an  interview  with  some  superhuman  mission,  or  inspired 
personage ;  ingeniously  resolving,  that  if  there  was  any  honour  or 
emolument,  or  influence  to  be  gained  by  the  promulgation  of  it,  he 
might  as  well  have  it  as  another  person;  and  with  this  view  he 
commenced  preaching  and  instituted  a  prayer,  which  he  ingeniously 
carved  on  a  maple-stick  of  an  inch  and  a  half  in  breadth,  in  characters 
somewhat  resembling  Chinese  letters.  These  sticks,  with  the  prayers 
on  them,  he  has  introduced  into  every  family  of  the  tribe,  and  into 
the  hands  of  every  individual ;  and  as  he  has  necessarily  the  manu¬ 
facturing  of  them  all,  he  sells  them  at  his  own  price ;  and  has  thus 
added  lucre  to  fame,  and  in  two  essential  and  effective  ways, 
augmented  his  influence  in  his  tribe.  Every  man,  woman,  and  child 
in  the  tribe,  so  far  as  I  saw  them,  were  in  the  habit  of  saying  their 
prayer  from  this  stick  when  going  to  bed  at  night,  and  also  when 
rising  in  the  morning;  which  was  invariably  done  by  placing  the 
forefinger  of  the  right  hand  under  the  upper  character,  until  they 
repeat  a  sentence  or  two,  which  it  suggests  to  them ;  and  then  slip¬ 
ping  it  under  the  next,  and  the  next,  and  so  on,  to  the  bottom  of 
the  stick,  which  altogether  required  about  ten  minutes,  as  it  was 
sung  over  in  a  sort  of  a  chant,  to  the  end. 

Many  people  have  called  all  this  an  ingenious  piece  of  hypocrisy 
on  the  part  of  the  Prophet,  and  whether  it  be  so  or  not,  I  cannot 
decide;  yet  one  thing  I  can  vouch  to  be  true,  that  whether  his 
motives  and  his  life  be  as  pure  as  he  pretends  or  not,  his  example 
has  done  much  towards  correcting  the  habits  of  his  people,  and  has 
effectually  turned  their  attention  from  the  destructive  habits  of 
dissipation  and  vice,  to  temperance  and  industry,  in  the  pursuits 
of  agriculture  and  the  arts.  The  world  may  still  be  unwilling  to 
allow  him  much  credit  for  this,  but  I  am  ready  to  award  him 
a  great  deal,  who  can  by  his  influence  thus  far  arrest  the  miseries 
of  dissipation  and  the  horrid  deformities  of  vice,  in  the  de¬ 
scending  prospects  of  a  nation  who  have  so  long  had,  and  still 
have,  the  white-skin  teachers  of  vices  and  dissipation  amongst 
them. 

Besides  these  two  chiefs,  I  have  also  painted  Ma-shee-na,  (the 
elk’s  horn),  Ke-chin-qua  (the  big  bear),  warriors,  and  Ah-tee-wot-o-mee,. 

VOL.  II.  H 


114 


and  Shc-nah-ivce,  women  of  the  same  tribe,  whose  portraits  are  in 
the  Gallery. 

WEE-AHS. 

These  are  also  the  remnant  of  a  once  powerful  tribe,  and  reduced 
by  the  same  causes,  to  the  number  of  200.  This  tribe  formerly  lived 
in  the  state  of  Indiana,  and  have  been  moved  with  the  Piankeshaws, 
to  a  position  forty  or  fifty  miles  south  of  Fort  Leavenworth. 

Go-to-lcoiv-pah-a  (he  who  stands  by  himself.  Fig.  187),  and  Wa- 
pon-je-a  (the  swan),  are  two  of  the  most  distinguished  warriors  of  the 
tribe,  both  with  intelligent  European  heads. 

POT-O-WAT-O-MIES. 

The  remains  of  a  tribe  who  were  once  very  numerous  and  warlike, 
but  reduced  by  whiskey  and  small-pox,  to  their  present  number, 
which  is  not  more  than  2700.  This  tribe  may  be  said  to  be  semi- 
civilised,  inasmuch  as  they  have  so  long  lived  in  contiguity  with 
white  people,  with  whom  their  blood  is  considerably  mixed,  and 
whose  modes  and  whose  manners  they  have  in  many  respects  copied. 
From  a  similarity  of  language  as  well  as  of  customs  and  personal 
appearance,  there  is  no  doubt  that  they  have  formerly  been  a  part 
of  the  great  tribe  of  Chippeways  or  Ot-ta-was,  living  neighbours  and 
adjoining  to  them,  on  the  North.  This  tribe  live  within  the  state 
of  Michigan,  and  there  own  a  rich  and  very  valuable  tract  of  land ; 
which,  like  the  Kickapoos,  they  are  selling  out  to  the  Government, 
and  about  to  remove  to  the  west  bank  of  the  Missouri,  where  a  part 
of  the  tribe  have  already  gone  and  settled,  in  the  vicinity  of  Fort 
Leavenworth.  Of  this  tribe  I  have  painted  the  portraits  of  On-saw- 
kie  (the  Sac,  Fig.  189),  in  the  attitude  of  prayer,  and  Na-poio-sa  (the 
bear  travelling  in  the  night,  Fig.  190),  one  of  the  principal  chiefs  of 
the  tribe.  These  people  have  for  some  time  lived  neighbours  to,  and 
somewhat  under  the  influence  of  the  Kickapoos ;  and  very  many  of 
the  tribe  have  become  zealous  disciples  of  the  Kickapoo  prophet, 
using  his  prayers  most  devoutly,  and  in  the  manner  that  I  have 
already  described,  as  is  seen  in  the  first  of  the  two  last-named 
portraits. 

KAS-KAS-KI-AS. 

This  is  the  name  of  a  tribe  that  formerly  occupied,  and  of  course 
owned,  a  vast  tract  of  country  lying  on  the  east  of  the  Mississippi, 
and  between  its  banks  and  the  Ohio,  and  now  forming  a  considerable 
portion  of  the  great  and  populous  state  of  Illinois.  History  furnishes 
us  a  full  and  extraordinary  account  of  the  once  warlike  character 


B3 


189 


190 


G.CakUn 


193 


19  4 


19  5 


Ct.  Gilltn 


196 


115 


and  numbers  of  this  tribe;  and  also  of  the  disastrous  career  that 
they  have  led,  from  their  first  acquaintance  with  civilised  neighbours ; 
whose  rapacious  avarice  in  grasping  for  their  fine  lands — with  the 
banes  of  whiskey  and  small-pox,  added  to  the  unexampled  cruelty 
of  neighbouring  hostile  tribes,  who  have  struck  at  them  in  the  days 
of  their  adversity,  and  helped  to  erase  them  from  existence. 

Perhaps  there  has  been  no  other  tribe  on  the  Continent  of  equal 
power  with  the  Kas-kas-ki-as,  that  have  so  suddenly  sunk  down  to 
complete  annihilation  and  disappeared.  The  remnant  of  this  tribe 
have  long  since  merged  into  the  tribe  of  Peorias  of  Illinois ;  and  it 
is  doubtful  whether  one  dozen  of  them  are  now  existing.  With  the 
very  few  remnants  of  this  tribe  will  die  in  a  few  years  a  beautiful 
language,  entirely  distinct  from  all  others  about  it,  unless  some 
enthusiastic  person  may  preserve  it  from  the  lips  of  those  few  who 
are  yet  able  to  speak  it.  Of  this  tribe  I  painted  Kee-mon-saw  (the 
little  chief),  half-civilised,  and,  I  should  think,  half-breed  (Fig.  191) ; 
and  Wah-pe-seh-see  (Fig.  192),  a  very  aged  woman,  mother  of  the 
same. 

This  young  man  is  chief  of  the  tribe ;  and  I  was  told  by  one  of 
the  Traders,  that  his  mother  and  his  son,  were  his  only  subjects  I 
Whether  this  be  true  or  not,  I  cannot  positively  say,  though  I  can 
assert  with  safety,  that  there  are  but  a  very  few  of  them  left,  and 
that  those,  like  all  of  the  last  of  tribes,  will  soon  die  of  dissipation  or 
broken  hearts. 

PE-O-RI-AS. 

The  name  of  another  tribe  inhabiting  a  part  of  the  state  of  Illinois ; 
and,  like  the  above  tribes,  but  a  remnant  and  civilised  (or  cicatrised, 
to  speak  more  correctly).  This  tribe  number  about  200,  and  are, 
like  most  of  the  other  remnants  of  tribes  on  the  frontiers,  under 
contract  to  move  to  the  west  of  the  Missouri.  Of  this  tribe  I 
painted  the  portrait  of  Pah-me-cow-e-tah  (the  man  who  tracks,  Fig. 
193);  and  Kee-rno-ra-ni-a  (no  English,  Fig.  194).  These  are  said  to 
be  the  most  influential  men  in  the  tribe,  and  both  were  very  curiously 
and  well  dressed,  in  articles  of  civilised  manufacture. 

PI-AN-KE-SHAWS. 

The  remnant  of  another  tribe,  of  the  states  of  Illinois  and  Indiana, 
who  have  also  recently  sold  out  their  country  to  Government,  and 
are  under  contract  to  move  to  the  west  of  the  Missouri,  in  the 
vicinity  of  Fort  Leavenworth.  Ni-a-co-mo  (to  fix  with  the  foot, 
Fig.  195),  a  brave  of  distinction ;  and  Men-son-se-ah  (the  left  hand. 


116 


Fig.  196),  a  fierce-looking  and  very  distinguished  warrior,  with  a 
stone  hatchet  in  his  hand,  are  fair  specimens  of  this  reduced  and 
enfeebled  tribe,  which  do  not  number  more  than  170  persons  at  this 
time. 


DELAWARES. 

The  very  sound  of  this  name  has  carried  terror  wherever  it  has  been 
heard  in  the  Indian  wilderness  ;  and  it  has  travelled  and  been  known, 
as  well  as  the  people,  over  a  very  great  part  of  the  Continent. 
This  tribe  originally  occupied  a  great  part  of  the  eastern  border  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  great  part  of  the  states  of  New  Jersey  and 
Delaware.  No  other  tribe  on  the  Continent  has  been  so  much 
moved  and  jostled  about  by  civilised  invasions;  and  none  have 
retreated  so  far,  or  fought  their  way  so  desperately,  as  they  have 
honourably  and  bravely  contended  for  every  foot  of  the  ground  they 
have  passed  over.  From  the  banks  of  the  Delaware  to  the  lovely 
Susquehana,  and  my  native  valley,  and  to  the  base  of  and  over,  the 
Alleghany  mountains,  to  the  Ohio  river — to  the  Illinois  and  the 
Mississippi,  and  at  last  to  the  west  of  the  Missouri,  they  have  been 
moved  by  Treaties  after  Treaties  with  the  Government,  who  have 
now  assigned  to  the  mere  handful  of  them  that  are  left,  a  tract  of 
land,  as  has  been  done  a  dozen  times  before,  in  fee  simple,  for  ever  ! 
In  every  move  the  poor  fellows  have  made,  they  have  been  thrust 
against  their  wills  from  the  graves  of  their  fathers  and  their  children ; 
and  planted  as  they  now  are,  on  the  borders  of  new  enemies,  where 
their  first  occupation  has  been  to  take  up  their  weapons  in  self- 
defence,  and  fight  for  the  ground  they  have  been  planted  on.  There 
is  no  tribe,  perhaps,  amongst  which  greater  and  more  continued 
exertions  have  been  made  for  their  conversion  to  Christianity; 
and  that  ever  since  the  zealous  efforts  of  the  Moravian  missionaries, 
who  first  began  with  them ;  nor  any,  amongst  whom  those  pious  and 
zealous  efforts  have  been  squandered  more  in  vain;  which  has, 
probably,  been  owing  to  the  bad  faith  with  which  they  have  so  often 
and  so  continually  been  treated  by  white  people,  which  has  excited 
prejudices  that  have  stood  in  the  way  of  their  mental  improvement. 

This  scattered  and  reduced  tribe,  which  once  contained  some  10,000 
or  15,000,  numbers  at  this  time  but  800;  and  the  greater  part  of 
them  have  been  for  the  fifty  or  sixty  years  past,  residing  in  Ohio  and 
Indiana.  In  these  states,  their  reservations  became  surrounded  by 
white  people,  whom  they  dislike  for  neighbours,  and  their  lands  too 
valuable  for  Indians — and  the  certain  consequence  has  been,  that 
they  have  sold  out  and  taken  lands  west  of  the  Mississippi ;  on  to 


ns 


197 


19  8 


200 


G-.CaUui. 


199 


117 


which  they  have  moved,  and  on  which  it  is,  and  always  will  be, 
almost  impossible  to  find  them,  owing  to  their  desperate  disposition 
for  roaming  about,  indulging  in  the  chase,  and  in  wars  with  their 
enemies. 

The  wild  frontier  on  which  they  are  now  placed,  affords  them 
so  fine  an  opportunity  to  indulge  both  of  these  propensities,  that 
they  will  be  continually  wandering  in  little  and  desperate  parties 
over  the  vast  buffalo  plains,  and  exposed  to  their  enemies,  till  at  last 
the  new  country,  which  is  given  to  them,  in  “  fee  simple,  for  ever,” 
and  which  is  destitute  of  game,  will  be  deserted,  and  they,  like  the 
most  of  the  removed  remnants  of  tribes,  will  be  destroyed ;  and  the 
faith  of  the  Government  well  preserved,  which  has  offered  this  as 
their  last  move,  and  these  lands  as  theirs  in  fee  simple,  for  ever. 

In  my  travels  on  the  Upper  Missouri,  and  in  the  Eocky  Mountains, 
I  learned  to  my  utter  astonishment,  that  little  parties  of  these 
adventurous  myrmidons,  of  only  six  or  eight  in  numbers,  had  visited 
those  remote  tribes,  at  2000  miles  distance ;  and  in  several  instances, 
after  having  cajoled  a  whole  tribe — having  been  feasted  in  their 
villages — having  solemnised  the  articles  of  everlasting  peace  with 
them,  and  received  many  presents  at  their  hands,  and  taken  affectionate 
leave,  have  brought  away  six  or  eight  scalps  with  them ;  and  never¬ 
theless,  braved  their  way,  and  defended  themselves  as  they  retreated 
in  safety  out  of  their  enemies’  country,  and  through  the  regions  of 
other  hostile  tribes,  where  they  managed  to  receive  the  same  honours, 
and  come  off  with  similar  trophies. 

Amongst  this  tribe  there  are  some  renowned  chiefs,  whose  lives, 
if  correctly  written,  would  be  matter  of  the  most  extraordinary  kind 
for  the  reading  world ;  and  of  which,  it  may  be  in  my  power  at  some 
future  time,  to  give  a  more  detailed  account.  In  Fig.  197  will  be 
seen  the  portrait  of  one  of  the  leading  chiefs  of  the  tribe,  whose  name 
is  Ni-co-man  (the  answer),  with  his  bow  and  arrows  in  his  hand. 
Non-on-da-gon  (Fig.  198),  with  a  silver  ring  in  his  nose,  is  another  of 
the  chiefs  of  distinction,  whose  history  I  admired  very  much,  and 
whom,  from  his  very  gentlemanly  attentions  to  me,  I  became  much 
attached  to.  In  both  of  these  instances,  their  dresses  were  princi¬ 
pally  of  stuffs  of  civilised  manufacture ;  and  their  heads  were  bound 
with  vari-coloured  handkerchiefs  or  shawls,  which  were  tastefully  put 
on  like  a  Turkish  turban. 

MO-HEE-CON-NEUHS  ]  or  MOHEGANS  (the  good  canoemen). 

There  are  400  of  this  once  powerful  and  still  famous  tribe,  residing 
near  Green  Bay,  on  a  rich  tract  of  land  given  to  them  by  the  Govern- 


118 


ment,  in  the  territory  of  Wisconsin,  near  Winnebago  lake— on  which 
they  are  living  very  comfortably ;  having  brought  with  them  from 
their  former  country,  in  the  state  of  Massachusetts,  a  knowledge  of 
agriculture,  which  they  had  there  effectually  learned  and  practised. 

This  tribe  are  the  remains,  and  all  that  are  left,  of  the  once  power¬ 
ful  and  celebrated  tribe  of  Pequots  of  Massachusetts.  History  tells 
ns,  that  in  their  wars  and  dissensions  with  the  whites,  a  considerable 
portion  of  the  tribe  moved  off  under  the  command  of  a  rival  chief,  and 
established  a  separate  tribe  or  band,  and  took  the  name  of  Mo-hee- 
con-neuhs,  which  they  have  preserved  until  the  present  day;  the  rest 
of  the  tribe  having  long  since  been  extinct. 

The  chief  of  this  tribe,  E 'e-tow-o-lcaum  (both  sides  of  the  river,  Fig. 
199),  which  I  have  painted  at  full  length,  with  a  psalm-book  in  one 
hand,  and  a  cane  in  the  other,  is  a  very  shrewd  and  intelligent  man, 
and  a  professed,  and  I  think,  sincere  Christian.  Waun-naw-con  (the 
dish),  John  W.  Quinney  (Fig.  200),  in  civilised  dress,  is  a  civilised 
Indian,  well-educated — speaking  good  English — is  a  Baptist  mission 
ary  preacher,  and  a  very  plausible  and  eloquent  speaker. 


O-nei-da’s. 

The  remnant  of  a  numerous  tribe  that  have  been  destroyed  by  wars 
with  the  whites — by  whiskey  and  small-pox,  numbering  at  present 
but  five  or  six  hundred,  and  living  in  the  most  miserable  poverty,  on 
their  reserve  in  the  state  of  New  York,  near  Utica  and  the  banks  of 
the  Mohawk  river.  This  tribe  was  one  of  the  confederacy,  called  the 
Six  Nations,  and  much  distinguished  in  the  early  history  of  New 
York.  The  present  chief  is  known  by  the  name  of  Bread  (Fig.  201). 
He  is  a  shrewd  and  talented  man,  well-educated — speaking  good 
English — is  handsome,  and  a  polite  and  gentlemanly  man  in  his 
deportment. 


tus-ka-ro-ra’s. 

Another  of  the  tribes  in  the  confederacy  of  the  Six  Nations,  once 
numerous,  but  reduced  at  present  to  the  number  of  500.  This  little 
tribe  are  living  on  their  reserve,  a  fine  tract  of  land,  near  Buffalo,  in 
the  state  of  New  York,  and  surrounded  by  civilised  settlements. 
Many  of  them  are  good  farmers,  raising  abundant  and  fine  crops. 

The  chief  of  the  tribe  is  a  very  dignified  man,  by  the  name  of 
Cu-sick,  and  his  son,  of  the  same  name,  whom  I  have  painted  (Fig. 
202),  is  a  very  talented  man — has  been  educated  for  the  pulpit  in 


116 


201  202 


203 


204 


£.  CiMin.. 


117 


(j  CafJbti 


205 


119 


some  one  of  our  public  institutions,  and  is  now  a  Baptist  preacher, 
and  I  am  told  a  very  eloquent  speaker. 

sen-e-ca’s. 

One  thousand  two  hundred  in  numbers  at  present,  living  on  their  re¬ 
serve,  near  Buffalo,  and  within  a  few  miles  of  Niagara  Falls,  in  the 
state  of  New  York.  This  tribe  formerly  lived  on  the  banks  of  the 
Seneca  and  Cayuga  lakes  ;  but,  like  all  the  other  tribes  who  have  stood 
in  the  way  of  the  “  march  of  civilisation,”  have  repeatedly  bargained 
away  their  country,  and  removed  to  the  West;  which  easily  accounts 
for  the  origin  of  the  familiar  phrase  that  is  used  amongst  them,  that 
“  they  are  going  to  the  setting  sun.” 

This  tribe,  when  first  known  to  the  civilised  world,  contained  some 
eight  or  ten  thousand ;  and  from  their  position  in  the  centre  of  the 
state  of  New  York,  held  an  important  place  in  its  history.  The 
Senecas  were  one  of  the  most  numerous  and  effective  tribes,  consti¬ 
tuting  the  compact  called  the  “  Six  Nations  ” ;  which  was  a  con¬ 
federacy  formed  by  six  tribes,  who  joined  in  a  league  as  an  effective 
mode  of  gaining  strength,  and  preserving  themselves  by  combined 
efforts  which  would  be  sufficiently  strong  to  withstand  the  assaults 
of  neighbouring  tribes,  or  to  resist  the  incursions  of  white  people  in 
their  country.  This  confederacy  consisted  of  the  Senecas,  Oneidas, 
Onondagas,  Cayugas,  Mohawks,  and  Tuskaroras ;  and  until  the  inno¬ 
vations  of  white  people,  with  their  destructive  engines  of  war — with 
whiskey  and  small-pox,  they  held  their  sway  in  the  country,  carrying 
victory,  and  consequently  terror  and  dismay,  wherever  they  warred. 
Their  war-parties  were  fearlessly  sent  into  Connecticut  and  Massa¬ 
chusetts,  to  Virginia,  and  even  to  Carolinas,  and  victory  everywhere 
crowned  their  efforts.  Their  combined  strength,  however,  in  all  its 
might,  poor  fellows,  was  not  enough  to  withstand  the  siege  of  their 
insidious  foes — a  destroying  flood  that  has  risen  and  advanced,  like  a 
flood-tide  upon  them,  and  covered  their  country ;  has  broken  up  their 
strongholds,  has  driven  them  from  land  to  land ;  and  in  their  retreat, 
has  drowned  the  most  of  them  in  its  waves. 

The  Senecas  are  the  most  numerous  remnant  of  this  compact; 
and  have  at  their  head  an  aged  and  very  distinguished  chief,  familiarly 
known  throughout  the  United  States,  by  the  name  of  Red  Jacket  (Fig. 
205).  I  painted  this  portrait  from  the  life,  in  the  costume  in  which 
he  is  represented ;  and  indulged  him  also,  in  the  wash  he  expressed, 
“  that  he  might  be  seen  standing  on  the  Table  Bock,  at  the  Falls  of 
Niagara ;  about  which  place  he  thought  his  spirit  would  linger  after 
he  was  dead.” 


120 


Good  Hunter  (Fig.  203),  and  Hard  Hickory  (Fig.  204),  are  fair 
specimens  of  the  warriors  of  this  tribe  or  rather  hunters ;  or  perhaps, 
still  more  correctly  speaking,  farmers ;  for  the  Senecas  have  had  no 
battles  to  fight  lately,  and  very  little  game  to  kill,  except  squirrels 
and  pheasants ;  and  their  hands  are  turned  to  the  plough,  having 
become,  most  of  them,  tolerable  farmers ;  raising  the  necessaries,  and 
many  of  the  luxuries  of  life,  from  the  soil. 

Of  this  interesting  tribe,  the  visitors  to  my  Gallery  will  find 
several  other  portraits  and  paintings  of  their  customs ;  and  in  books 
that  have  been  written,  and  are  being  compiled,  a  much  more  able 
and  faithful  account  than  I  can  give  in  an  epistle  of  this  kind. 

The  fame  as  well  as  the  face  of  Eed  Jacket,  is  generally  familiar 
to  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  and  the  Canadas;  and  for  the 
information  of  those  who  have  not  known  him,  I  will  briefly  say,  that 
he  has  been  for  many  years  the  head  chief  of  the  scattered  remnants 
of  that  once  powerful  compact,  the  Six  Nations ;  a  part  of  whom 
reside  on  their  reservations  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Senecas,  amounting 
perhaps  in  all,  to  about  four  thousand,  and  owning  some  two  hundred 
thousand  acres  of  fine  lands.  Of  this  confederacy,  the  Mohawks  and 
Cayugas,  chiefly  emigrated  to  Canada,  some  fifty  years  ago,  leaving 
the  Senecas,  the  Tuskaroras,  Oneidas,  and  Onondagas  in  the  state  of 
New  York,  on  fine  tracts  of  lands,  completely  surrounded  with  white 
population ;  who  by  industry  and  enterprise,  are  making  the  Indian 
lands  too  valuable  to  be  long  in  their  possession,  who  will  no  doubt 
be  induced  to  sell  out  to  the  Government,  or,  in  other  words,  to  ex¬ 
change  them  for  lands  west  of  the  Mississippi,  where  it  is  the 
avowed  intention  of  the  Government  to  remove  all  the  border  tribes.* 

Eed  Jacket  has  been  reputed  one  of  the  greatest  orators  of  his  day ; 
and,  no  doubt,  more  distinguished  for  his  eloquence  and  his  influ¬ 
ence  in  council,  than  as  a  warrior,  in  which  character  I  think  history 
has  not  said  much  of  him.  This  may  be  owing,  in  a  great  measure, 
to  the  fact  that  the  wars  of  his  nation  were  chiefly  fought  before 
his  fighting  days ;  and  that  the  greater  part  of  his  life  and  his  talents 
have  been  spent  with  his  tribe,  during  its  downfall ;  where,  instead 
of  the  horrors  of  Indian  wars,  they  have  had  a  more  fatal  and 
destructive  enemy  to  encounter,  in  the  insidious  encroachments  of 
pale  faces,  which  he  has  been  for  many  years  exerting  his  eloquence 
and  all  his  talents  to  resist.  Poor  old  chief — not  all  the  eloquence  of 

*  Since  the  above  was  written,  the  Senecas  and  all  the  other  remnants  of  the  Six 
Nations  residing  in  the  state  of  New  York,  have  agreed  in  Treaties  with  the  United 
States  to  remove  to  tracts  of  country  assigned  them,  west  of  the  Mississippi,  twelve 
hundred  miles  from  their  reservations  in  the  state  of  New  York. 


121 


Cicero  and  Demosthenes  would  be  able  to  avert  the  calamity,  that 
awaits  his  declining  nation — to  resist  the  despoiling  hand  of  mercenary 
white  man,  that  opens  and  spreads  liberally,  but  to  entrap  the  unwary 
and  ingorant  within  its  withering  grasp. 

This  talented  old  man  has  for  many  years  past,  strenuously  remon¬ 
strated  both  to  the  Governor  of  New  York,  and  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  against  the  continual  encroachments  of  white  people; 
whom  he  represented  as  using  every  endeavour  to  wrest  from  them 
their  lands — to  destroy  their  game,  introducing  vices  of  a  horrible 
character,  and  unknown  to  his  people  by  nature !  and  most  vehem¬ 
ently  of  all,  has  he  continually  remonstrated  against  the  preaching 
of  missionaries  in  his  tribe ;  alleging,  that  the  “  black  coats  ”  (as  he 
calls  the  clergymen),  did  more  mischief  than  good  in  his  tribe,  by 
creating  doubts  and  dissensions  amongst  his  people!  which  are 
destructive  of  his  peace,  and  dangerous  to  the  success,  and  even 
existence  of  his  tribe.  Like  many  other  great  men  who  endeavour  to 
soothe  broken  and  painful  feelings,  by  the  kindness  of  the  bottle,  he 
has  long  since  taken  up  whiskey-drinking  to  excess ;  and  much  of 
his  time,  lies  drunk  in  his  cabin,  or  under  the  corner  of  a  fence,  or 
wherever  else  its  kindness  urges  the  necessity  of  his  dropping  his 
helpless  body  and  limbs,  to  indulge  in  the  delightful  spell.  He  is  as 
great  a  drunkard  as  some  of  our  most  distinguished  law-givers  and 
law-makers ;  and  yet  ten  times  more  culpable,  as  he  has  little  to  do  in 
life,  and  wields  the  destinies  of  a  nation  in  his  hands !  * 

There  are  no  better  people  to  be  found,  than  the  Seneca  Indians 
— none  that  I  know  of  that  are  by  Nature  more  talented  and 
ingenious ;  nor  any  that  would  be  found  to  be  better  neighbours,  if  the 
arts  and  abuses  of  white  men  and  whiskey,  could  be  kept  away  from 
them.  They  have  mostly  laid  down  their  hunting  habits,  and  become 
efficient  farmers,  raising  fine  crops  of  corn,  and  a  great  abundance  of 
hogs,  cattle,  and  horses,  and  other  necessaries  and  luxuries  of  life. 

I-RO-QUOIS. 

One  of  the  most  numerous  and  powerful  tribes  that  ever  existed  in 
the  Northern  regions  of  our  country,  and  now  one  of  the  most  com¬ 
pletely  annihilated.  This  tribe  occupied  a  vast  tract  of  country  on 
the  Eiver  St  Lawrence,  between  its  banks  and  Lake  Champlain ;  and 

*  This  celebrated  chief  died  several  years  since,  in  his  village  near  Buffalo ;  and 
since  his  death  our  famous  comedian,  Mr  Placide,  has  erected  a  handsome  and 
appropriate  monument  over  his  grave ;  and  I  am  pleased  also  to  learn,  that  my 
friend  Wm.  L.  Stone,  Esq.,  is  building  him  a  still  more  lasting  one  in  history,  which 
he  is  compiling,  of  the  life  of  this  extraordinary  man,  to  an  early  perusal  of  which, 
1  can  confidently  refer  the  world  for  much  curious  and  valuable  information. 

H* 


122 


at  times,  by  conquest,  actually  over-run  the  whole  country,  from  that 
to  the  shores  of  Lakes  Erie.  Huron,  and  Michigan.  But  by  their 
continual  wars  with  the  French,  English,  and  Indians,  and  dissipation 
and  disease,  they  have  been  almost  entirely  annihilated.  The  few 
remnants  of  them  have  long  since  merged  into  other  tribes,  and  been 
mostly  lost  sight  of.*  Of  this  tribe  I  have  painted  but  one,  Not-o-way 
(the  thinker,  Fig.  206).  This  was  an  excellent  man,  and  was  hand¬ 
somely  dressed  for  his  picture.  I  had  much  conversation  with  him, 
and  became  very  much  attached  to  him.  He  seemed  to  be  quite 
ignorant  of  the  early  history  of  his  tribe,  as  well  as  of  the  position 
and  condition  of  its  few  scattered  remnants,  who  are  yet  in  existence. 
He  told  me,  however,  that  he  had  always  learned  that  the  Iroquois 
had  conquered  nearly  all  the  world ;  but  the  Great  Spirit  being 
offended  at  the  great  slaughters  by  his  favourite  people,  resolved  to 
punish  them;  and  he  sent  a  dreadful  disease  amongst  them,  that 
carried  the  most  of  them  off,  and  all  the  rest  that  could  be  found, 
were  killed  by  their  enemies — that  though  he  was  an  Iroquois,  which 
he  was  proud  to  acknowledge  to  me,  as  I  was  to  “  make  him  live  after 
he  was  dead  ” ;  he  wished  it  to  be  generally  thought,  that  he  was  a 
Chippeway,  that  he  might  live  as  long  as  the  Great  Spirit  had  wished 
it  when  he  made  him. f 

*  The  whole  of  the  Six  Nations  have  been  by  some  writers  denominated  Iroquois 
—how  correct  this  may  be,  I  am  not  quite  able  to  say  ;  one  thing  is  certain,  that  is, 
that  the  Iroquois  tribe  did  not  all  belong  to  that  Confederacy,  their  original  country 
was  on  the  shores  of  the  St  Lawrence ;  and,  although  one  branch  of  their  nation, 
the  Mohawks,  formed  a  part,  and  the  most  effective  portion  of  that  compact,  yet 
the  other  members  of  it  spoke  different  languages  ;  and  a  great  part  of  the  Iroquois 
moved  their  settlements  further  North  and  East,  instead  of  joining  in  the  continual 
wars  carried  on  by  the  Six  Nations.  It  is  of  this  part  of  the  tribe  that  I  am  speak¬ 
ing,  when  I  mention  them  as  nearly  extinct:  and  it  is  from  this  branch  of  the 
family  that  I  got  the  portrait  which  1  have  introduced  above. 

1  Since  the  above  Letter  was  written,  all  the  tribes  and  remnants  of  tribes 
mentioned  in  it  have  been  removed  by  the  Government,  to  lands  west  of  the 
Mississippi  and  Missouri,  given  to  them,  in  addition  to  considerable  annuities,  in 
consideration  for  the  immense  tracts  of  country  they  have  left  on  the  frontier,  and 
within  the  States.  The  present  positions  of  these  tribes,  and  their  relative  locations 
to  the  civilised  frontier  and  the  wild,  unjostled  tribes,  can  be  seen  on  a  map  in  the 
beginning  of  this  volume.  There  are  also  other  tribes  there  laid  down,  who  have 
also  been  removed  by  Treaty  stipulations,  in  the  same  way,  which  are  treated  of  in 
subsequent  Letters.  The  Government,  under  General  Jackson,  strenuously  set 
forth  and  carried  out,  the  policy  of  removing  all  the  semi-civilised  and  border 
Indians,  to  a  country  west  of  the  Mississippi;  and  although  the  project  had  many 
violent  opponents,  yet  there  were  very  many  strong  reasons  in  favour  of  it,  and  the 
thing  has  been  at  last  done  ;  and  a  few  years  will  decide,  by  the  best  of  all  arguments, 
whether  the  policy  was  a  good  one  or  not.  I  may  have  occasion  to  say  more  on 
this  subject  hereafter;  and  in  the  meantime  recommend  the  reader  to  examine  their 
relative  positions,  and  contemplate  their  prospects  between  their  mortal  foes  on  the 
Vy'est,  and  their  acquisitive  friends  following  them  up  from  the  East. 


11  fr 


20  6 


G-.Ca,tUn.. 


LETTER— No.  48 


ST  LOUIS 

Whilst  I  am  thus  taking  a  hasty  glance  at  the  tribes  on  the 
Atlantic  coast,  on  the  borders  of  Mexico,  and  the  confines  of  Canada, 
the  reader  will  pardon  me  for  taking  him  for  a  few  minutes  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Columbia,  on  the  Pacific  coast;  which  place  I  have 
not  yet  quite  reached  myself,  in  my  wild  rambles,  but  most  un¬ 
doubtedly  shall  ere  long,  if  my  strolling  career  be  not  suddenly 
stopped.  I  scarcely  need  tell  the  reader  where  the  Columbia  River 

is,  since  its  course  and  its  character  have  been  so  often,  and  so  well 
described,  by  recent  travellers  through  those  regions.  I  can  now  but 
glance  at  this  remote  country  and  its  customs;  and  revert  to  it 
again  after  I  shall  have  examined  it  in  all  its  parts,  and  collected 
my  materials  for  a  fuller  account. 

FLAT  HEADS. 

These  are  a  very  numerous  people,  inhabiting  the  shores  of  the 
Columbia  River,  and  a  vast  tract  of  country  lying  to  the  south  of 

it,  and  living  in  a  country  which  is  exceedingly  sterile  and  almost 
entirely,  in  many  parts,  destitute  of  game  for  the  subsistence  of  the 
savage ;  they  are  mostly  obliged  to  live  on  roots,  which  they  dig  from 
the  ground,  and  fish  which  they  take  from  the  streams ;  the  con¬ 
sequences  of  which  are,  that  they  are  generally  poor  and  miserably 
clad;  and  in  no  respect  equal  to  the  Indians  of  whom  I  have 
heretofore  spoken,  who  live  on  the  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
in  the  ranges  of  the  buffaloes ;  where  they  are  well-fed,  and  mostly 
have  good  horses  to  ride,  and  materials  in  abundance  for  manu¬ 
facturing  their  beautiful  and  comfortable  dresses. 

The  people  generally  denominated  Flat  Heads,  are  divided  into 
a  great  many  bands,  and  although  they  have  undoubtedly  got  their 
name  from  the  custom  of  flattening  the  head;  yet  there  are  but 
very  few  of  those  so  denominated,  who  actually  practice  that  extra¬ 
ordinary  custom. 

The  Nez  Perch  who  inhabit  the  upper  waters  and  mountainous 
parts  of  the  Columbia,  are  a  part  of  this  tribe,  though  they  are 
seldom  known  to  flatten  the  head  like  those  lower  down,  and  about 

123 


124 


the  mouth  of  the  river.  Hcc-oh’ks-te-kin  (the  rabbit  skin  leggings. 
Fig.  207),  and  ITco-a-h’ co-a-li  cotes-min  (no  horns  on  his  head,  Fig. 
208),  are  young  men  of  this  tribe.  These  two  young  men,  when  I 
painted  them,  were  in  beautiful  Sioux  dresses,  which  had  been 
presented  to  them  in  a  talk  with  the  Sioux,  who  treated  them  very 
kindly,  while  passing  through  the  Sioux  country.  These  two  men 
were  part  of  a  delegation  that  came  across  the  Rocky  Mountains  to 
St  Louis,  a  few  years  since,  to  inquire  for  the  truth  of  a  representa¬ 
tion  which  they  said  some  white  man  had  made  amongst  them, 
“  that  our  religion  was  better  than  theirs,  and  that  they  would  all 
be  lost  if  they  did  not  embrace  it.” 

Two  old  and  venerable  men  of  this  party  died  in  St  Louis,  and 
I  travelled  two  thousand  miles,  companion  with  these  two  young 
fellows,  towards  their  own  country,  and  became  much  pleased  with 
their  manners  and  dispositions. 

The  last  mentioned  of  the  two,  died  near  the  mouth  of  the  Yellow 
Stone  River  on  his  way  home,  with  disease  which  he  had  contracted 
in  the  civilised  district;  and  the  other  one  I  have  since  learned, 
arrived  safely  amongst  his  friends,  conveying  to  them  the  melancholy 
intelligence  of  the  deaths  of  all  the  rest  of  his  party ;  but  assurances 
at  the  same  time,  from  General  Clarke,  and  many  reverend  gentlemen, 
that  the  report  which  they  had  heard  was  well  founded ;  and  that 
missionaries,  good  and  religious  men,  would  soon  come  amongst  them 
to  teach  this  religion,  so  that  they  could  all  understand  and  have 
the  benefits  of  it. 

When  I  first  heard  the  report  of  the  object  of  this  extraordinary 
mission  across  the  mountains,  I  could  scarcely  believe  it;  but  on 
conversing  with  General  Clarke  on  a  future  occasion,  I  was  fully 
convinced  of  the  fact ;  and  I,  like  thousands  of  others,  have  had  the 
satisfaction  of  witnessing  the  complete  success  that  has  crowned  the 
bold  and  daring  exertions  of  Mr  Lee  and  Mr  Spalding,  two  reverend 
gentlemen  who  have  answered  in  a  Christian  manner  to  this  un- 
precedented  call ;  and  with  their  wives  have  crossed  the  most  rugged 
wilds  and  wildernesses  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  triumphantly 
proved  to  the  world,  that  the  Indians,  in  their  native  wilds  are  a 
kind  and  friendly  people,  and  susceptible  of  mental  improvement. 

I  had  long  been  of  the  opinion,  that  to  ensure  success,  the  exer¬ 
tions  of  pious  men  should  be  carried  into  the  heart  of  the  wilderness, 
beyond  the  reach  and  influence  of  civilised  vices ;  and  I  so  expressed 
my  opinion  to  the  Reverend  Mr  Spalding  and  his  lady,  in  Pittsburg, 
when  on  their  way,  in  their  first  Tour  to  that  distant  country.  I 
have  seen  the  Reverend  Mr  Lee  and  several  others  of  the  mission, 


113 


125 


several  years  since  the  formation  of  their  school ;  as  well  as  several 
gentlemen  who  have  visited  their  settlement,  and  from  all,  I  am 
fully  convinced  of  the  complete  success  of  these  excellent  and  perse¬ 
vering  gentlemen,  in  proving  to  the  world  the  absurdity  of  the 
assertion  that  has  been  often  made,  “  that  the  Indian  can  never  he 
civilised  or  christianised.”  Their  uninterrupted  transit  over  such  a 
vast  and  wild  journey,  also,  with  their  wives  on  horseback,  who 
were  everywhere  on  their  way,  as  well  as  amongst  the  tribes  where 
they  have  located,  treated  with  the  utmost  kindness  and  respect, 
bears  strong  testimony  to  the  assertions  so  often  made  by  travellers 
in  those  countries,  that  these  are,  in  their  native  state,  a  kind  and 
excellent  people. 

I  hope  I  shall  on  a  future  occasion,  be  able  to  give  the  reader 
some  further  detailed  account  of  the  success  of  these  zealous  and 
excellent  men,  whose  example,  of  penetrating  to  the  heart  of  the 
Indian  country,  and  there  teaching  the  Indian  in  the  true  and  effective 
way,  will  be  a  lasting  honour  to  themselves,  and  I  fully  believe,  a 
permanent  benefit  to  those  ignorant  and  benighted  people. 

THE  CHINOOKS, 

inhabiting  the  lower  parts  of  the  Columbia,  are  a  small  tribe,  and 
correctly  come  under  the  name  of  Flat  Heads,  as  they  are  almost 
the  only  people  who  strictly  adhere  to  the  custom  of  squeezing  and 
flattening  the  head.  Fig.  209,  is  the  portrait  of  a  Chinook  boy,  of 
fifteen  or  eighteen  years  of  age,  on  whose  head  that  frightful  operation 
has  never  been  performed.  And  in  Fig.  210,  will  be  seen  the  portrait 
of  a  Chinook  woman,  with  her  child  in  her  arms,  her  own  head 
flattened,  and  the  infant  undergoing  the  process  of  flattening ;  which 
is  done  by  placing  its  back  on  a  board,  or  thick  plank,  to  which  it 
is  lashed  with  thongs,  to  a  position  from  which  it  cannot  escape, 
and  the  back  of  the  head  supported  by  a  sort  of  pillow,  made  of  moss 
or  rabbit  skins,  with  an  inclined  piece  (as  is  seen  in  the  drawing), 
resting  on  the  forehead  of  the  child ;  being  every  day  drawn  down 
a  little  tighter  by  means  of  a  cord,  which  holds  it  in  its  place,  until 
it  at  length  touches  the  nose ;  thus  forming  a  straight  line  from  the 
crown  of  the  head  to  the  end  of  the  nose. 

This  process  is  seemingly  a  very  cruel  one,  though  I  doubt  whether 
it  causes  much  pain;  as  it  is  done  in  earliest  infancy,  whilst  the 
bones  are  soft  and  cartilaginous,  and  easily  pressed  into  this  distorted 
shape,  by  forcing  the  occipital  up,  and  the  frontal  down ;  so  that  the 
skull  at  the  top,  in  profile,  will  show  a  breadth  of  not  more  than  an 
inch  and  a  half,  or  two  inches ;  when  in  a  front  view  it  exhibits  as 


126 


great  expansion  on  the  sides,  making  it  at  the  top,  nearly  the  width 
of  one  and  a  half  natural  heads. 

By  this  remarkable  operation,  the  brain  is  singularly  changed 
from  its  natural  shape ;  but  in  all  probability,  not  in  the  least 
diminished  or  injured  in  its  natural  functions.  This  belief  is  drawn 
from  the  testimony  of  many  credible  witnesses,  who  have  closely 
scrutinised  them ;  and  ascertained  that  those  who  have  the  head 
flattened,  are  in  no  way  inferior  in  intellectual  powers  to  those  whose 
heads  are  in  their  natural  shapes. 

In  the  process  of  flattening  the  head,  there  is  often  another  form 
of  crib  or  cradle,  into  which  the  child  is  placed,  much  in  the  form 
of  a  small  canoe,  dug  out  of  a  log  of  wood,  with  a  cavity  just  large 
enough  to  admit  the  body  of  the  child,  and  the  head  also,  giving  it 
room  to  expand  in  width ;  while  from  the  head  of  the  cradle  there 
is  a  sort  of  lever,  with  an  elastic  spring  to  it  that  comes  down  on  the 
forehead  of  the  child,  and  produces  the  same  effects  as  the  one  I  have 
above  described. 

The  child  is  wrapped  in  rabbits’  skins,  and  placed  in  this  little 
coffin-like  looking  cradle,  from  which  it  is  not,  in  some  instances, 
taken  out  for  several  weeks.  The  bandages  over  and  about  the  lower 
limbs,  and  as  high  up  as  the  breast,  are  loose,  and  repeatedly  taken 
off  in  the  same  day,  as  the  child  may  require  cleansing ;  but  the  head 
and  shoulders  are  kept  strictly  in  the  same  position,  and  the  breast 
given  to  the  child  by  holding  it  up  in  the  cradle,  loosing  the  outer 
end  of  the  lever  that  comes  over  the  nose,  and  raising  it  up  or  turn¬ 
ing  it  aside,  so  as  to  allow  the  child  to  come  at  the  breast,  without 
moving  its  head. 

The  length  of  time  that  the  infants  are  generally  carried  in  these 
cradles  is  three,  five,  or  eight  weeks,  until  the  bones  are  so  formed 
as  to  keep  their  shapes,  and  preserve  this  singular  appearance  through- 
life. 

This  little  cradle  has  a  strap,  which  passes  over  the  woman’s  fore¬ 
head  whilst  the  cradle  rides  on  her  back ;  and  if  the  child  dies  during 
its  subjection  to  this  rigid  mode,  its  cradle  becomes  its  coffin,  forming 
a  little  canoe,  in  which  it  lies  floating  on  the  water  in  some  sacred 
pool,  where  they  are  often  in  the  habit  of  fastening  the  canoes,  con¬ 
taining  the  dead  bodies  of  the  old  and  the  young ;  or  which  is  often  the 
case,  elevated  into  the  branches  of  trees,  where  their  bodies  are  left 
to  decay,  and  their  bones  to  dry ;  whilst  they  are  bandaged  in  many 
skins,  and  curiously  packed  in  their  canoes,  with  paddles  to  propel, 
and  ladles  to  bail  them  out,  and  provisions  to  last,  and  pipes  to  smoke,, 
as  they  are  performing  their  “  long  journey  after  death,  to  their  con- 


120 


210'/2 

&  CaJZunj 


127 


templated  hunting-grounds,  ’  which  these  people  think  is  to  be  per¬ 
formed  in  their  canoes. 

In  Fig.  21 OJ  letter  a ,  is  an  accurate  drawing  of  the  above-men¬ 
tioned  cradle,  perfectly  exemplifying  the  custom  described ;  and  by 
the  side  of  it  (letter  h),  the  drawing  of  a  Chinook  skull,  giving  the 
front  and  profile  view  of  it.  Letter  c,  in  the  same  Fig.,  exhibits  an 
Indian  skull  in  its  natural  shape,  to  contrast  with  the  artificial  * 

This  mode  of  flattening  the  head  is  certainly  one  of  the  most 
unaccountable,  as  well  as  unmeaning  customs,  found  amongst  the 
North  American  Indians.  What  it  could  have  originated  in,  or  for 
what  purpose,  other  than  a  mere  useless  fashion,  it  could  have  been 
invented,  no  human  being  can  probably  ever  tell.  The  Indians  have 
many  curious  and  ridiculous  fashions,  which  have  come  into  exist¬ 
ence,  no  doubt,  by  accident,  and  are  of  no  earthly  use  (like  many 
silly  fashions  in  enlightened  society),  yet  they  are  perpetuated  much 
longer,  and  that  only  because  their  ancestors  practised  them  in  ages 
gone  by.  The  greater  part  of  Indian  modes,  however,  and  particu¬ 
larly  those  that  are  accompanied  with  much  pain  or  trouble  in  their 
enactment,  are  most  wonderfully  adapted  to  the  production  of  some 
good  or  useful  results ;  for  which  the  inquisitive  world,  I  am  sure, 
may  for  ever  look  in  vain  to  this  stupid  and  useless  fashion,  that  has 
most  unfortunately  been  engendered  on  these  ignorant  people,  whose 
superstition  forbids  them  to  lay  it  down. 

It  is  a  curious  fact,  and  one  that  should  be  mentioned  here,  that 
these  people  have  not  been  alone  in  this  strange  custom ;  but  that 
it  existed  and  was  practised  precisely  the  same,  until  recently, 
amongst  the  Choctaws  and  Chickasaws ;  who  occupied  a  large  part 
of  the  states  of  Mississippi  and  Alabama,  where  they  have  laid  their 
bones,  and  hundreds  of  their  skulls  have  been  procured,  bearing 
incontrovertible  evidence  of  a  similar  treatment,  with  similar 
results. 

The  Choctaws  who  are  now  living,  do  not  flatten  the  head ;  the 
custom,  like  that  of  the  medicine-hag,  and  many  others,  which  the 
Indians  have  departed  from,  from  the  assurances  of  white  people, 
that  they  were  of  no  use,  and  were  utterly  ridiculous  to  be  followed. 
Whilst  amongst  the  Choctaws,  I  could  learn  little  more  from  the 
people  about  such  a  custom,  than  that  “their  old  men  recol¬ 
lected  to  have  heard  it  spoken  of  ” — which  is  much  less  satisfactory 
evidence  than  inquisitive  white  people  get  by  refering  to  the  grave, 
which  the  Indian  never  meddles  with.  The  distance  of  the  Choctaws 

*  Besides  these,  there  are  a  number  of  other  skulls  in  the  Collection,  most 
interesting  specimens,  from  various  tribes. 


128 


from  the  country  of  the  Chinooks,  is  certainly  between  two  and  three 
thousand  miles  ;  and  there  being  no  intervening  tribes  practising  the 
same  custom — and  no  probability  that  any  two  tribes  in  a  state  of 
Nature,  would  ever  hit  upon  so  peculiar  an  absurdity,  we  come, 
whether  willingly  or  not,  to  the  conclusion,  that  these  tribes  must  at 
some  former  period,  have  lived  neighbours  to  each  other,  or  have 
been  parts  of  the  same  family ;  which  time  and  circumstances  have 
gradually  removed  to  such  a  very  great  distance  from  each  other. 
Nor  does  this,  in  my  opinion  (as  many  suppose),  furnish  any  very 
strong  evidence  in  support  of  the  theory,  that  the  different  tribes 
have  all  sprung  from  one  stock ;  but  carries  a  strong  argument  to 
the  other  side,  by  furnishing  proof  of  the  very  great  tenacity  these 
people  have  for  their  peculiar  customs ;  many  of  which  are  certainly 
not  general,  but  often  carried  from  one  end  of  the  Continent  to  the 
other,  or  from  ocean  to  ocean,  by  bands  or  sections  of  tribes,  which 
often  get  “run  off”  by  their  enemies  in  wars,  or  in  hunting,  as  I 
have  before  described ;  where  to  emigrate  to  a  vast  distance  is  not 
so  unaccountable  a  thing,  but  almost  the  inevitable  result,  of  a  tribe 
that  have  got  set  in  motion,  all  the  way  amongst  deadly  foes,  in 
whose  countries  it  would  be  fatal  to  stop. 

I  am  obliged  therefore  to  believe,  that  either  the  Chinooks 
emigrated  from  the  Atlantic,  or  that  the  Choctaws  came  from  the 
west  side  of  the  Eocky  Mountains ;  and  I  regret  exceedingly  that 
I  have  not  been  able  as  yet,  to  compare  the  languages  of  these  two 
tribes,  in  which  I  should  expect  to  find  some  decided  resemblance. 
They  might,  however,  have  been  near  neighbours,  and  practising 
a  copied  custom  where  there  was  no  resemblance  in  their  language. 

Whilst  among  the  Choctaws  I  wrote  down  from  the  lips  of  one  of 
their  chiefs,  the  following  tradition,  which  seems  strongly  to  favour 
the  supposition  that  they  came  from  a  great  distance  in  the  West,  and 
probably  from  beyond  the  Eocky  Mountains: — Tradition.  “The 
Choctaws,  a  great  many  winters  ago,  commenced  moving  from  the 
country  where  they  then  lived,  which  was  a  great  distance  to  the 
West  of  the  great  river,  and  the  mountains  of  snow;  and  they  were 
a  great  many  years  on  their  way.  A  great  medicine-man  led  them 
the  whole  way,  by  going  before  with  a  red  pole,  which  he  stuck  in 
the  ground  every  night  where  they  encamped.  This  pole  was  every 
morning  found  leaning  to  the  East ;  and  he  told  them  that  they  must 
continue  to  travel  to  the  East,  until  the  pole  would  stand  upright  in 
their  encampment,  and  that  there  the  Great  Spirit  had  directed  that 
they  should  live.  At  a  place  which  they  named  Nah-ne-wa-ye  (the 
sloping  hill),  the  pole  stood  straight  up,  where  they  pitched  their 


129 


encampment,  which  was  one  mile  square,  with  the  men  encamped  on 
the  outside,  and  the  women  and  children  in  the  centre ;  which  is  the 
centre  of  the  old  Choctaw  nation  to  ‘  this  day.’  ” 

In  the  vicinity  of  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia,  there  are,  besides 
the  Chinooks,  the  Klick-a-tacks,  Cheehaylas,  Na-as,  and  many  other 
tribes,  whose  customs  are  interesting,  and  of  whose  manufactures 
my  Museum  contains  many  very  curious  and  interesting  specimens, 
from  which  I  have  inserted  a  few  outlines  in  Fig.  210£,  to  which  the 
reader  will  refer.  Letter  d,  is  a  correct  drawing  of  a  Chinook  canoe 
— e,  a  Na-as  war-canoe,  curiously  carved  and  painted—/,  two  dishes 
or  ladles  for  bailing  their  canoes — g,  a  Stikeen  mask,  curiously  carved 
and  painted,  worn  by  the  mystery-men  when  in  councils,  for  the 
purpose  of  calling  up  the  Great  or  Evil  Spirits  to  consult  on  the 
policy  of  peace  or  war — h,  custom  of  the  Na-as  women  of  wearing  a 
block  of  wood  in  the  under  lip,  which  is  almost  as  unaccountable  as 
the  custom  of  flattening  the  head.  Letter  i,  is  a  drawing  of  the 
block,  and  the  exact  dimensions  of  one  in  the  Collection,  taken  out  of 
the  lip  of  a  deceased  Na-as  woman — k,  “  wapito  diggers,”  instruments 
used  by  the  women  for  digging  the  wapito,  a  bulbous  root,  much  like 
a  turnip,  which  the  French  Traders  call  pomnie  blanche,  and  which  I 
have  before  described.  Letter  l,  pau  -  to-  mau  -  gons,  or  po-ko-mo- 
kons,  war-clubs,  the  one  made  by  the  Indians  from  a  piece  of  native 
copper,  the  other  of  the  bone  of  the  sperm  whale.  Letter  n,  two  very 
curiously  carved  pipes,  made  of  black  slate  and  highly  polished. 

Besides  these,  the  visitor  will  find  in  the  Collection  a  great  number 
of  their  very  ingenious  articles  of  dress ;  their  culinary,  war,  and  hunt¬ 
ing  implements,  as  well  as  specimens  of  their  spinning  and  weaving,  by 
which  they  convert  dog’s  hair  and  the  wool  of  the  mountain-sheep 
into  durable  and  splendid  robes,  the  production  of  which,  I  venture 
to  say,  would  bid  defiance  to  any  of  the  looms  in  the  American  or 
British  Factories. 

The  Indians  who  inhabit  the  rugged  wildernesses  of  the  Bocky 
Mountains,  are  chiefly  the  Blackfeet  and  Crows,  of  whom  I  have 
heretofore  spoken,  and  the  Shoshonees  or  Snakes,  who  are  a  part  of  the 
Camanchees,  speaking  the  same  language,  and  the  Shoshokies  or  root 
diggers,  who  inhabit  the  southern  parts  of  these  vast  and  wild 
realms,  with  the  Arapahoes  and  Navahoes,  who  are  neighbours  to  the 
Camanchees  on  the  west,  having  Santa  Fe  on  the  south,  and  the 
coast  of  California  on  the  west.  Of  the  Shoshonees  and  Shoshokies, 
all  travellers  who  have  spoken  of  them,  give  them  a  good  character, 
as  a  kind  and  hospitable  and  harmless  people ;  to  which  fact  I  could 
cite  the  unquestionable  authorities  of  the  excellent  Eev.  Mr  Parker, 
VOL.  II.  I 


130 


who  has  published  his  interesting  Tour  across  the  Eoeky  Mountains 
— Lewis  and  Clarke — Capt.  Bonneville  and  others ;  and  I  allege 
it  to  be  a  truth,  that  the  reason  why  we  find  them  as  they  are 
uniformly  described,  a  kind  and  inoffensive  people,  is,  that  they  have 
not  as  yet  been  abused — that  they  are  in  their  primitive  state,  as  the 
Great  Spirit  made  and  endowed  them  with  good  hearts  and  kind 
feelings,  unalloyed  and  untainted  by  the  vices  of  the  money-making 
world. 

To  the  same  fact,  relative  to  the  tribes  on  the  Columbia  river,  I 
have  been  allowed  to  quote  the  authority  of  H.  Beaver,  a  very  worthy 
and  kind  reverend  gentleman  of  England,  who  has  been  for  several 
years  past  living  with  these  people,  and  writes  to  me  thus  : — 

"  I  shall  be  always  ready,  with  pleasure,  to  testify  my  perfect 
accordance  with  the  sentiments  I  have  heard  you  express,  both  in 
your  public  lectures,  and  private  conversation,  relative  to  the  much 
traduced  character  of  our  red  brethren,  particularly  as  it  relates  to 
their  honesty,  hospitality,  and  peaceableness,  throughout  the  length  and 
breadth  of  the  Columbia.  Whatever  of  a  contrary  disposition  has  at 
any  time,  in  those  parts,  been  displayed  by  them,  has,  I  am  persuaded 
been  exotic,  and  forced  on  them  by  the  depravity  and  impositions  of 
the  white  Traders.” 


LETTEE— No.  49 


ST  LOUIS 

In  one  of  my  last  Letters  from  Fort  Gibson,  written  some  months 
since,  I  promised  to  open  my  note-book  on  a  future  occasion,  to 
give  some  further  account  of  tribes  and  remnants  of  tribes  located 
in  that  vicinity,  amongst  whom  I  had  been  spending  some  time  with 
my  pen  and  my  pencil ;  and  having  since  that  time  extended  my 
rambles  over  much  of  that  ground  again,  and  also  through  the 
regions  of  the  East  and  South-East,  from  whence  the  most  of 
those  tribes  have  emigrated ;  I  consider  this  a  proper  time  to  say 
something  more  of  them,  and  their  customs  and  condition,  before 
I  go  farther. 

The  most  of  these,  as  I  have  said,  are  tribes  or  parts  of  tribes 
which  the  Government  has  recently,  by  means  of  Treaty  stipula¬ 
tions,  removed  to  that  wild  and  distant  country,  on  to  lands  which 
have  been  given  to  them  in  exchange  for  their  valuable  possessions 
within  the  States,  ten  or  twelve  hundred  miles  to  the  east. 

Of  a  number  of  such  reduced  and  removed  tribes,  who  have 

been  located  west  of  the  Missouri,  and  north  of  St  Louis,  I  have 

already  spoken  in  a  former  Letter,  and  shall  yet  make  brief  men¬ 

tion  of  another,  which  has  been  conducted  to  the  same  region — and 
then  direct  the  attention  of  the  reader  to  those  which  are  settled  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Fort  Gibson,  who  are  the  Cherokees — Creeks — 
Choctaws — Chickasaws — Seminoles,  and  Euchees. 

The  people  above  alluded  to  are  the 

sha-wa-no’s. 

The  history  of  this  once  powerful  tribe  is  so  closely  and  necessarily 
connected  with  that  of  the  United  States,  and  the  revolutionary  war, 
that  it  is  generally  pretty  well  understood.  This  tribe  formerly 
inhabited  great  parts  of  the  states  of  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey 
(and  for  the  last  sixty  years),  a  part  of  the  states  of  Ohio  and 
Indiana,  to  which  they  had  removed ;  and  now,  a  considerable  por¬ 
tion  of  them,  a  tract  of  country  several  hundred  miles  west  of  the 
Mississippi,  which  has  been  conveyed  to  them  by  Government  in 

131 


132 


exchange  for  their  hands  in  Ohio,  from  which  it  is  expected  the  re¬ 
mainder  of  the  tribe  will  soon  move.  It  has  been  said  that  this 
tribe  came  formerly  from  Florida,  but  I  do  not  believe  it.  The  mere 
fact  that  there  is  found  in  East  Florida  a  river  by  the  name  of 
Su-wa-nee,  which  bears  some  resemblance  to  Sha-wa-no,  seems,  as 
far  as  I  can  learn,  to  be  the  principal  evidence  that  has  been  adduced 
for  the  fact.  They  have  evidently  been  known,  and  that  within  the 
scope  of  our  authenticated  history,  on  the  Atlantic  coast — on  the 
Delaware  and  Chesapeake  bays.  And  after  that,  have  fought  their 
way  against  every  sort  of  trespass  and  abuse — against  the  bayonet 
and  disease,  through  the  states  of  Pennsylvania,  Delaware  and  Ohio, 
Indiana,  Illinois  and  Missouri,  to  their  present  location  near  the 
Kon-zas  Diver,  at  least  1500  miles  from  their  native  country. 

This  tribe  and  the  Delawares,  of  whom  I  have  spoken,  were 
neighbours  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  and  alternately  allies  and  enemies, 
have  retrograded  and  retreated  together — have  fought  their  enemies 
united,  and  fought  each  other,  until  their  remnants  that  have  out¬ 
lived  their  nation’s  calamities,  have  now  settled  as  neighbours  to¬ 
gether  in  the  Western  wilds;  where,  it  is  probable,  the  sweeping 
hand  of  death  will  soon  relieve  them  from  further  necessity  of 
warring  or  moving  ;  and  the  Government,  from  the  necessity  or 
policy  of  proposing  to  them  a  yet  more  distant  home.  In  their 
long  and  disastrous  pilgrimage,  both  of  these  tribes  laid  claim  to, 
and  alternately  occupied  the  beautiful  and  renowned  valley  of  Wy-o- 
ming ;  and  after  strewing  the  Susquehana’s  lovely  banks  with 
their  bones,  and  their  tumuli,  they  both  yielded  at  last  to  the 
dire  necessity,  which  follows  all  civilised  intercourse  with  natives, 
and  fled  to  the  Alleghany,  and  at  last  to  the  banks  of  the  Ohio ; 
where  necessity  soon  came  again,  and  again,  and  again,  until  the 
great  “  Guardian  ”  of  all  “  red  children  ”  placed  them  where  they 
now  are. 

There  are  of  this  tribe  remaining  about  1200  ;  some  few  of  whom 
are  agriculturists,  and  industrious  and  temperate,  and  religious 
people ;  but  the  greater  proportion  of  them  are  miserably  poor 
and  dependent,  having  scarcely  the  ambition  to  labour  or  to 
hunt,  and  a  passion  for  whiskey-drinking,  that  sinks  them  into 
the  most  abject  poverty,  as  they  will  give  the  last  thing  they  pos¬ 
sess  for  a  drink  of  it. 

There  is  not  a  tribe  on  the  Continent  whose  history  is  more 
interesting  than  that  of  the  Shawano’s,  nor  any  one  that  has  pro¬ 
duced  more  extraordinary  men. 

The  great  Tecumseh,  whose  name  and  history  I  can  but  barely 


121 


G.CaHm. 


213 


214 


133 


allude  to  at  this  time,  was  the  chief  of  this  tribe,  and  perhaps 
the  most  extraordinary  Indian  of  his  age. 

The  present  chief  of  the  tribe,  Lay-law-she-kaw  (he  who  goes  up 
the  river,  Fig.  211),  is  a  very  aged,  but  extraordinary  man,  with  a 
fine  and  intelligent  head,  and  his  ears  slit  and  stretched  down  to 
his  shoulders,  a  custom  highly  valued  in  this  tribe;  which  is  done 
by  severing  the  rim  of  the  ear  with  a  knife,  and  stretching  it  down 
by  wearing  heavy  weights  attached  to  it  at  times,  to  elongate  it  as 
much  as  possible,  making  a  large  orifice,  through  which,  on  parades, 
etc.,  they  often  pass  a  bunch  of  arrows  or  quills,  and  wear  them  as 
ornaments. 

In  this  instance  (which  was  not  an  unusual  one),  the  rims  of  the 
ears  were  so  extended  down,  that  they  touched  the  shoulders,  making 
a  ring  through  which  the  whole  hand  could  easily  be  passed.  The 
daughter  of  this  old  chief,  Ka-te-qua  (the  female  eagle,  Fig.  212),  was 
an  agreeable-looking  girl,  of  fifteen  years  of  age,  and  much  thought 
of  by  the  tribe.  Pah-te-coo-saw  (the  straight  man,  Fig.  213),  a 
warrior  of  this  tribe,  has  distinguished  himself  by  his  exploits  ;  and 
when  he  sat  for  his  picture,  had  painted  his  face  in  a  very  curious 
manner  with  black  and  red  paint. 

Ten-squa-ta-way  (the  open  door,  Fig.  214),  called  the  “  Shawnee 
Prophet ,”  is  perhaps  one  of  the  most  remarkable  men,  who  has  flourished 
on  these  frontiers  for  some  time  past.  This  man  is  brother  of  the 
famous  Tecumseh,  and  quite  equal  in  his  medicines  or  mysteries,  to 
what  his  brother  was  in  arms ;  he  was  blind  in  his  left  eye,  and  in 
his  right  hand  he  was  holding  his  “  medicine  fire,”  and  his  “  sacred 
string  of  beans”  in  the  other.  With  these  mysteries  he  made  his  way 
through  most  of  the  North-Western  tribes,  enlisting  warriors  wherever 
he  went,  to  assist  Tecumseh  in  effecting  his  great  scheme,  of  forming 
a  confederacy  of  all  the  Indians  on  the  frontier,  to  drive  back  the 
whites  and  defend  the  Indians’  rights;  which  he  told  them  could 
never  in  any  other  way  be  protected.  His  plan  was  certainly  a 
correct  one,  if  not  a  very  great  one ;  and  his  brother,  the  Prophet, 
exercised  his  astonishing  influence  in  raising  men  for  him  to  fight  his 
battles,  and  carry  out  his  plans.  For  this  purpose,  he  started  upon 
an  embassy  to  the  various  tribes  on  the  Upper  Missouri,  nearly  all 
of  which  he  visited  with  astonishing  success ;  exhibiting  his  mystery 
fire,  and  using  his  sacred  string  of  beans,  which  every  young  man 
who  was  willing  to  go  to  war,  was  to  touch;  thereby  taking  the 
solemn  oath  to  start  when  called  upon,  and  not  to  turn  back. 

In  this  most  surprising  manner,  this  ingenious  man  entered  the 
villages  of  most  of  his  inveterate  enemies,  and  of  others  who  never 


134 


had  heard  of  the  name  of  his  tribe ;  and  manoeuvred  in  so  successful 
a  way,  as  to  make  his  medicines  a  safe  passport  for  him  to  all  of  their 
villages ;  and  also  the  means  of  enlisting  in  the  different  tribes,  some 
eight  or  ten  thousand  warriors,  who  had  solemnly  sworn  to  return 
with  him  on  his  way  back ;  and  to  assist  in  the  wars  that  Tecumseh 
was  to  wage  against  the  whites  on  the  frontier.  I  found,  on  my  visit 
to  the  Sioux — to  the  Puncahs,  to  the  Eiccarees  and  the  Mandans, 
that  he  had  been  there,  and  even  to  the  Blackfeet ;  and  everywhere 
told  them  of  the  potency  of  his  mysteries,  and  assured  them,  that  if 
they  allowed  the  fire  to  go  out  in  their  wigwams,  it  would  prove  fatal 
to  them  in  every  case.  He  carried  with  him  into  every  wigwam  that 
he  visited,  the  image  of  a  dead  person  of  the  size  of  life ;  which  was 
made  ingeniously  of  some  light  material,  and  always  kept  concealed 
under  bandages  of  thin  white  muslin  cloths  and  not  to  be  opened ;  of 
this  he  made  great  mystery,  and  got  his  recruits  to  swear  by  touch¬ 
ing  a  sacred  string  of  white  beans,  which  he  had  attached  to  its  neck 
or  some  other  way  secreted  about  it.  In  this  way,  by  his  extra¬ 
ordinary  cunning,  he  had  carried  terror  into  the  country  as  far  as  he 
went;  and  had  actually  enlisted  some  eight  or  ten  thousand  men, 
who  were  sworn  to  follow  him  home ;  and  in  a  few  days  would  have 
been  on  their  way  with  him,  had  not  a  couple  of  his  political  enemies 
in  his  own  tribe,  followed  on  his  track,  even  to  those  remote 
tribes,  and  defeated  his  plans  by  pronouncing  him  an  impostor ;  and 
all  of  his  forms  and  plans  an  imposition  upon  them,  which  they 
would  be  fools  to  listen  to.  In  this  manner,  this  great  recruiting 
officer  was  defeated  in  his  plans,  for  raising  an  army  of  men  to  fight 
his  brother’s  battles ;  and  to  save  his  life,  he  discharged  his  medicines 
as  suddenly  as  possible,  and  secretly  travelled  his  way  home,  over 
those  vast  regions,  to  his  own  tribe,  where  the  death  of  Tecumseh, 
and  the  opposition  of  enemies,  killed  all  his  splendid  prospects,  and 
doomed  him  to  live  the  rest  of  his  days  in  silence,  and  a  sort  of 
disgrace ;  like  all  men  in  Indian  communities  who  pretend  to  great 
medicine,  in  any  way,  and  fail ;  as  they  all  think  such  failure  an 
evidence  of  the  displeasure  of  the  Great  Spirit,  who  always  judges 
right. 

This,  no  doubt,  has  been  a  very  shrewd  and  influential  man,  but 
circumstances  have  destroyed  him,  as  they  have  many  other  great 
men  before  him ;  and  he  now  lives  respected,  but  silent  and  melancholy 
in  his  tribe.  I  conversed  with  him  a  great  deal  about  his  brother 
Tecumseh,  of  whom  he  spoke  frankly,  and  seemingly  with  great 
pleasure ;  but  of  himself  and  his  own  great  schemes,  he  would  say 
nothing.  He  told  me  that  Tecumseh’s  plans  were  to  embody  all  the- 


Indian  tribes  in  a  grand  confederacy,  from  the  province  of  Mexico, 
to  the  Great  Lakes,  to  unite  their  forces  in  an  army  that  would  be 
able  to  meet  and  drive  back  the  white  people,  who  were  continually 
advancing  on  the  Indian  tribes,  and  forcing  them  from  their  lands 
towards  the  Eocky  Mountains — that  Tecumseh  was  a  great  general, 
and  that  nothing  but  his  premature  death  defeated  his  grand  plan. 

The  Shawanos,  like  most  of  the  other  remnants  of  tribes,  in  whose 
countries  the  game  has  been  destroyed,  and  by  the  use  of  whiskey, 
have  been  reduced  to  poverty  and  absolute  want,  have  become,  to  a 
certain  degree,  agriculturists  ;  raising  corn  and  beans,  potatoes,  hogs, 
horses,  etc.,  so  as  to  be  enabled,  if  they  could  possess  anywhere  on 
earth,  a  country  which  they  could  have  a  certainty  of  holding  in 
perpetuity,  as  their  own,  to  plant  and  raise  their  own  crops,  and 
necessaries  of  life  from  the  ground. 

The  Government  have  effected  with  these  people,  as  with  most  of 
the  other  dispersed  tribes,  an  arrangement  by  which  they  are  to 
remove  west  of  the  Mississippi,  to  lands  assigned  them ;  on  which 
they  are  solemnly  promised  a  home  for  ever  ;  the  uncertain  definition 
of  which  important  word,  time  and  circumstances  alone  will  deter¬ 
mine. 

Besides  the  personages  whom  I  have  above  mentioned,  I  painted 
the  portraits  of  several  others  of  note  in  the  tribe ;  and  amongst  them 
Lay-loo-ah-pe-ai-sliee-lcaw  (the  grass-bush  and  blossom),  whom  I 
introduce  in  this  place,  rather  from  the  very  handy  and  poetical 
name,  than  from  any  great  personal  distinction  known  to  have  been 
acquired  by  him. 


THE  CHER-O-KEES, 

Living  in  the  vicinity  of,  and  about  Fort  Gibson,  on  the  Arkansas, 
and  700  miles  west  of  the  Mississippi  river,  are  a  third  part  or  more 
of  the  once  very  numerous  and  powerful  tribe  who  inhabited  and 
still  inhabit,  a  considerable  part  of  the  state  of  Georgia,  and  under 
a  Treaty  made  with  the  United  States  Government,  have  been 
removed  to  those  regions,  where  they  are  settled  on  a  fine  tract  of 
country ;  and  having  advanced  somewhat  in  the  arts  and  agriculture 
before  they  started,  are  now  found  to  be  mostly  living  well,  culti¬ 
vating  their  fields  of  corn  and  other  crops,  which  they  raise  with 
great  success. 

Under  a  serious  difficulty  existing  between  these  people  (whom 
their  former  solemn  Treaties  with  the  United  States  Government, 
were  acknowledged  a  free  and  independent  nation,  with  powers  to 
make  and  enforce  their  own  laws),  and  the  state  of  Georgia,  which 


136 


could  not  admit  such  a  government  within  her  sovereignty,  it  was 
thought  most  expedient  by  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
to  propose  to  them,  for  the  fourth  or  fifth  time,  to  enter  into  Treaty 
stipulations  again  to  move ;  and  by  so  doing  to  settle  the  difficult 
question  with  the  state  of  Georgia,  and  at  the  same  time,  to  place 
them  in  peaceable  possession  of  a  large  tract  of  fine  country,  where 
they  would  for  ever  be  free  from  the  continual  trespasses  and  abuses 
which  it  was  supposed  they  would  be  subjected  to,  if  they  were  to 
remain  in  the  state  of  Georgia,  under  the  present  difficulties  and 
the  high  excited  feelings  which  were  then  existing  in  the  minds  of 
many  people  along  their  borders. 

John  Boss,  a  civilised  and  highly  educated  and  accomplished 
gentleman,  who  is  the  head-chief  of  the  tribe  (Fig.  215),  and  several 
of  his  leading  subordinate  chiefs,  have  sternly  and  steadily  rejected 
the  proposition  of  such  a  Treaty ;  and  are  yet,  with  a  great  majority 
of  the  nation  remaining  on  their  own  ground  in  the  state  of  Georgia,, 
although  some  six  or  seven  thousand  of  the  tribe  have  several  years, 
since  removed  to  the  Arkansas,  under  the  guidance  and  control  of  an 
aged  and  dignified  chief  by  the  name  of  Jol-lee  (Fig.  217). 

This  man,  like  most  of  the  chiefs,  as  well  as  a  very  great  pro* 
portion  of  the  Cherokee  population,  has  a  mixture  of  white  and  red 
blood  in  his  veins,  of  which,  in  this  instance,  the  first  seems  decidedly 
to  predominate.  Another  chief,  and  second  to  this,  amongst  this 
portion  of  the  Cherokees,  by  the  name  of  Teh-ke-neh-kee  (the  black- 
coat),  I  have  also  painted  and  placed  in  my  Collection,  as  well  as  a 
very  interesting  specimen  of  the  Cherokee  women  (Fig.  216). 

I  have  travelled  pretty  generally  through  the  several  different 
locations  of  this  interesting  tribe,  both  in  the  Western  and  Eastern 
divisions,  and  have  found  them,  as  well  as  the  Choctaws  and  Creeks, 
their  neighbours,  very  far  advanced  in  the  arts;  affording  to  the 
world  the  most  satisfactory  evidences  that  are  to  be  found  in 
America,  of  the  fact,  that  the  Indian  was  not  made  to  shun  and 
evade  good  example,  and  necessarily  to  live  and  die  a  brute,  as  many 
speculating  men  would  needs  record  them  and  treat  them,  until  they 
are  robbed  and  trampled  into  the  dust;  that  no  living  evidences 
might  give  the  lie  to  their  theories,  or  draw  the  cloak  from  their 
cruel  and  horrible  iniquities. 

As  I  have  repeatedly  said  to  my  readers,  in  the  course  of  my 
former  epistles,  that  the  greater  part  of  my  time  would  be  devoted 
to  the  condition  and  customs  of  the  tribe  that  might  be  found  in 
their  primitive  state,  they  will  feel  disposed  to  pardon  me  for  barely 
introducing  the  Cherokees,  and  several  others  of  these  very  interest- 


215 


216 


217 


G-.  CatUn. 


218 


137 


ing  tribes,  and  leaving  them  and  their  customs  and  histories  (which 
are  of  themselves  enough  for  volumes),  to  the  reader,  who  is,  perhaps, 
nearly  as  familiar  as  I  am  myself,  with  the  full  and  fair  accounts  of 
these  people,  who  have  had  their  historians  and  biographers. 

The  history  of  the  Cherokees  and  other  numerous  remnants  of 
tribes,  who  are  the  exhabitants  of  the  finest  and  most  valued  portions 
of  the  United  States,  is  a  subject  of  great  interest  and  importance, 
and  has  already  been  woven  into  the  most  valued  histories  of  the 
country,  as  well  as  forming  material  parts  of  the  archives  of  the 
Government,  which  is  my  excuse  for  barely  introducing  the  reader 
to  them,  and  beckoning  him  off  again  to  the  native  and  untrodden 
wilds,  to  teach  him  something  new  and  unrecorded.  Yet  I  leave 
the  subject,  as  I  left  the  people  (to  whom  I  became  attached,  for 
their  kindness  and  friendship),  with  a  heavy  heart,  wishing  them 
success  and  the  blessing  of  the  Great  Spirit,  who  alone  can  avert  the 
doom,  that  would  almost  seem  to  be  fixed  for  their  unfortunate  race. 

The  Cherokees  amount  in  all  to  about  22,000,  16,000  of  whom 
are  yet  living  in  Georgia,  under  the  government  of  their  chief,  John 
Eoss,  whose  name  I  have  before  mentioned ;  with  this  excellent  man, 
who  has  been  for  many  years  devotedly  opposed  to  the  Treaty 
stipulations  for  moving  from  their  country,  I  have  been  familiarly 
acquainted ;  and,  notwithstanding  the  bitter  invective  and  animad¬ 
versions  that  have  been  by  his  political  enemies  heaped  upon  him, 
I  feel  authorised,  and  bound,  to  testify  to  the  unassuming  and 
gentlemanly  urbanity  of  his  manners,  as  well  as  to  the  rigid  temper¬ 
ance  of  his  habits,  and  the  purity  of  his  language,  in  which  I  never 
knew  him  to  transgress  for  a  moment,  in  public  or  private  interviews. 

At  this  time,  the  most  strenuous  endeavours  are  making  on  the 
part  of  the  Government  and  the  state  of  Georgia,  for  the  completion 
of  an  arrangement  for  the  removal  of  the  whole  of  this  tribe,  as  well 
as  of  the  Choctaws  and  Seminoles ;  and  I  have  not  a  doubt  of  their 
final  success,  which  seems,  from  all  former  experience,  to  attend 
every  project  of  the  kind  made  by  the  Government  to  their  red 
children.* 

*  Since  writing  the  above,  the  Government  have  succeeded  in  removing  the 
remainder  of  the  Cherokees  beyond  the  Mississippi,  where  they  have  taken  up 
their  residence  alongside  of  their  old  friends,  who  emigrated  several  years  since 
under  Jol-lee,  as  I  have  before  mentioned.  In  the  few  years  past,  the  Government 
has  also  succeeded  in  stipulating  with,  and  removing  west  of  the  Mississippi,  nearly 
every  remnant  of  tribes  spoken  of  in  this  and  the  two  last  Letters,  so  that  there 
are  at  this  time  but  a  few  hundreds  of  the  red  men  east  of  the  Mississippi ;  and  it 
is  probable,  that  a  few  months  more  will  effect  the  removal  of  the  remainder  of 
them.  See  their  present  locations  west  of  the  Mississippi,  on  the  map  at  the 
beginning  of  this  Volume. 

I* 


138 


It  is  not  for  me  to  decide,  nor  in  this  place  to  reason,  as  to  the 
justice  or  injustice  of  the  treatment  of  these  people  at  the  hands  of 
the  Government  or  individuals ;  or  of  the  wisdom  of  the  policy  which 
is  to  place  them  in  a  new,  though  vast  and  fertile  country,  1000  miles 
from  the  land  of  their  birth,  in  the  doubtful  dilemma  whether  to 
break  the  natural  turf  with  their  rustling  ploughshares,  or  string 
their  bows,  and  dash  over  the  boundless  prairies,  beckoned  on  by  the 
alluring  dictates  of  their  nature,  seeking  laurels  amongst  the  ranks 
of  their  new  enemies,  and  subsistence  amongst  the  herds  of  buffaloes. 

Besides  the  Cherokees  in  Georgia,  and  those  that  I  have  spoken 
of  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Fort  Gibson,  there  is  another  band  or 
family  of  the  same  tribe,  of  several  hundreds,  living  on  the  banks  of 
the  Canadian  river,  a  hundred  or  more  miles  south  -  west  of  Fort 
Gibson,  under  the  government  of  a  distinguished  chief  by  the  name 
of  Tuch-ec  (familiarly  called  by  the  white  people,  “Dutch’’  Fig.  218). 
This  is  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  men  that  lives  on  the  frontiers 
at  the  present  day,  both  for  his  remarkable  history,  and  for  his  fine 
and  manly  figure,  and  character  of  face. 

This  man  was  in  the  employment  of  the  Government  as  a  guide 
and  hunter  for  the  regiment  of  dragoons,  on  their  expedition  to  the 
Cainanchees,  where  I  had  him  for  a  constant  companion  for  several 
months,  and  opportunities  in  abundance,  for  studying  his  true 
character,  and  of  witnessing  his  wonderful  exploits  in  the  different 
varieties  of  the  chase.  The  history  of  this  man’s  life  has  been  very 
curious  and  surprising;  and  I  sincerely  hope  that  some  one,  with 
more  leisure  and  more  talent  than  myself,  will  take  it  up,  and  do  it 
justice.  I  promise  that  the  life  of  this  man  furnishes  the  best 
materials  for  a  popular  tale,  that  are  now  to  be  procured  on  the 
Western  frontier. 

He  is  familiarly  known,  and  much  of  his  life,  to  all  the  officers 
who  have  been  stationed  at  Fort  Gibson,  or  at  any  of  the  posts  in 
that  region  of  country. 

Some  twenty  years  or  more  since,  becoming  fatigued  and  incensed 
with  civilised  encroachments,  that  were  continually  making  on  the 
borders  of  the  Cherokee  country  in  Georgia,  where  he  then  resided, 
and  probably,  foreseeing  the  disastrous  results  they  were  to  lead  to, 
he  beat  up  for  volunteers  to  emigrate  to  the  West,  where  he  had 
designed  to  go,  and  colonise  in  a  wild  country  beyond  the  reach  and 
contamination  of  civilised  innovations;  and  succeeded  in  getting 
several  hundred  men,  women,  and  children,  whom  he  led  over  the 
banks  of  the  Mississippi,  and  settled  upon  the  head  waters  of  White 
Fiver,  where  they  lived  until  the  appearance  of  white  faces,  which 


123 


219 


220 


139 


began  to  peep  through  the  forests  at  them,  when  they  made 
another  move  of  600  miles  to  the  banks  of  the  Canadian,  where 
they  now  reside;  and  where,  by  the  system  of  desperate  warfare, 
which  he  has  carried  on  against  the  Osages  and  the  Camanchees,  he 
has  successfully  cleared  away  from  a  large  tract  of  fine  country,  all 
the  enemies  that  could  contend  for  it,  and  now  holds  it,  with  his 
little  band  of  myrmidons,  as  their  own  undisputed  soil,  where 
they  are  living  comfortably  by  raising  from  the  soil  fine  crops  of 
corn  and  potatoes,  and  other  necessaries  of  life ;  whilst  they  indulge 
whenever  they  please,  in  the  pleasures  of  the  chase  amongst  the 
herds  of  buffaloes,  or  in  the  natural  propensity  for  ornamenting  their 
dresses  and  their  war-clubs  with  the  scalp-locks  of  their  enemies. 

THE  CREEKS  (OR  MUS-KO-GEES), 

Of  20,000  in  numbers,  have,  until  quite  recently,  occupied  an 
immense  tract  of  country  in  the  states  of  Mississippi  and  Alabama ; 
but  by  a  similar  arrangement  (and  for  a  similar  purpose)  with  the 
Government,  have  exchanged  their  possessions  there  for  a  country, 
adjoining  to  the  Cherokees,  on  the  south  side  of  the  Arkansas,  to 
which  they  have  already  all  removed  and  on  which,  like  the  Cherokees, 
they  are  laying  out  fine  farms,  and  building  good  houses,  in  which 
they  live ;  in  many  instances,  surrounded  by  immense  fields  of  corn 
and  wheat.  There  is  scarcely  a  finer  country  on  earth  than  that 
now  owned  by  the  Creeks ;  and  in  North  America,  certainly  no 
Indian  tribe  more  advanced  in  the  arts  and  agriculture  than  they 
are.  It  is  no  uncommon  thing  to  see  a  Creek  with  twenty  or  thirty 
slaves  at  work  on  his  plantation,  having  brought  them  from  a  slave¬ 
holding  country,  from  which,  in  their  long  journey,  and  exposure  to 
white  man’s  ingenuity,  I  venture  to  say,  that  most  of  them  got  rid 
of  one-half  of  them,  whilst  on  their  long  and  disastrous  crusade. 

The  Creeks,  as  well  as  the  Cherokees  and  Choctaws,  have  good 
schools  and  churches  established  amongst  them,  conducted  by 
excellent  and  pious  men,  from  whose  example  they  are  drawing 
great  and  lasting  benefits. 

In  Figs.  219  and  220,  I  have  given  the  portraits  of  two  dis¬ 
tinguished  men,  and  I  believe,  both  chiefs.  The  first  by  the  name 
of  Stee-cha-co-me-co  (the  great  king),  familiarly  called  “  Ben  Perry¬ 
man  ” ;  and  the  other,  Hol-te-mal-te-tez-te-neehlc-ee  ( - ),  called 

“  Sam  Perryman.”  These  two  men  are  brothers,  and  are  fair  specimens 
of  the  tribe,  who  are  mostly  clad  in  calicoes,  and  other  cloths  of 
civilised  manufacture ;  tasselled  and  fringed  off  by  themselves  in  the 
most  fantastic  way,  and  sometimes  with  much  true  and  picturesque 


140 


taste.  They  use  a  vast  many  beads,  and  other  trinkets,  to  hang 
upon  their  necks,  and  ornament  their  moccasins  and  beautiful  belts. 

THE  CHOCTAWS, 

Of  fifteen  thousand,  are  another  tribe,  removed  from  the  Northern 
parts  of  Alabama,  and  Mississippi,  within  the  few  years  past,  and 
now  occupying  a  large  and  rich  tract  of  country,  south  of  the  Arkansas 
and  the  Canadian  rivers ;  adjoining  to  the  country  of  the  Creeks  and 
the  Cherokees,  equally  civilised,  and  living  much  in  the  same  manner. 

In  this  tribe  I  painted  the  portrait  of  their  famous  and  excellent 
chief,  Mo-sho-la-tub-bee  (he  who  puts  out  and  kills,  Fig.  221),  who 
has  since  died  of  the  small-pox.  In  the  same  Fig.  will  also  be  seen, 
the  portrait  of  a  distinguished  and  very  gentlemanly  man,  who  has 
been  well-educated,  and  who  gave  me  much  curious  and  valuable 
information,  of  the  history  and  traditions  of  his  tribe.  The  name 
of  this  man  is  Ha-tchoo-tuclc-nee  (the  snapping  turtle.  Fig.  222), 
familiarly  called  by  the  whites,  “  Peter  Pinchlin.” 

These  people  seem,  even  in  their  troubles,  to  be  happy ;  and  have, 
like  all  the  other  remnants  of  tribes,  preserved  with  great  tenacity 
their  different  games,  which  it  would  seem  they  are  everlastingly 
practising  for  want  of  other  occupations  or  amusements  in  life. 
Whilst  I  was  staying  at  the  Choctaw  agency  in  the  midst  of  their 
nation,  it  seemed  to  be  a  sort  of  season  of  amusements,  a  kind  of 
holiday ;  when  the  whole  tribe  almost,  were  assembled  around  the 
establishment,  and  from  day  to  day  we  were  entertained  with  some 
games  or  feats  that  were  exceedingly  amusing :  horse-racing,  dancing, 
wrestling,  foot-racing,  and  ball-playing,  were  amongst  the  most  excit¬ 
ing  ;  and  of  all  the  catalogue,  the  most  beautiful  was  decidedly  that 
of  ball-playing.  This  wonderful  game,  which  is  the  favourite  one 
amongst  all  the  tribes,  and  with  these  Southern  tribes  played  exactly 
the  same,  can  never  be  appreciated  by  those  who  are  not  happy 
enough  to  see  it. 

It  is  no  uncommon  occurrence  for  six  or  eight  hundred  or  a 
thousand  of  these  young  men  to  engage  in  a  game  of  ball,  with 
five  or  six  times  that  number  of  spectators,  of  men,  women,  and 
children,  surrounding  the  ground,  and  looking  on.  And  I  pronounce 
such  a  scene,  with  its  hundreds  of  Nature’s  most  beautiful  models, 
denuded,  and  painted  of  various  colours,  running  and  leaping  into 
the  air,  in  all  the  most  extravagant  and  varied  forms,  in  the  desperate 
struggles  for  the  ball,  a  school  for  the  painter  or  sculptor,  equal  to 
any  of  those  which  ever  inspired  the  hand  of  the  artist  in  the 
Olympian  games  or  the  Roman  forum. 


141 


I  have  made  it  a  uniform  rule,  whilst  in  the  Indian  country,  to 
attend  every  ball-play  I  could  hear  of,  if  I  could  do  it  by  riding  a 
distance  of  twenty  or  thirty  miles ;  and  my  usual  custom  has  been 
on  such  occasions,  to  straddle  the  back  of  mjr  horse,  and  look  on  to 
the  best  advantage.  In  this  way  I  have  sat,  and  oftentimes  reclined, 
and  almost  dropped  from  my  horse’s  back,  with  irresistible  laughter 
at  the  succession  of  droll  tricks,  and  kicks  and  scuffles  which  ensue, 
in  the  almost  superhuman  struggles  for  the  ball.  These  plays 
generally  commence  at  nine  o’clock,  or  near  it,  in  the  morning ;  and 
I  have  more  than  once  balanced  myself  on  my  pony,  from  that  time 
till  near  sundown,  without  more  than  one  minute  of  intermission 
at  a  time,  before  the  game  has  been  decided. 

It  is  impossible  for  pen  and  ink  alone,  or  brushes,  or  even  with 
their  combined  efforts,  to  give  more  than  a  caricature  of  such  a  scene ; 
but  such  as  I  have  been  able  to  do,  I  have  put  upon  the  canvas,  and 
in  the  slight  outlines  which  I  have  here  attached  in  Figs.  224,  225, 
226,  taken  from  those  paintings  (for  the  colouring  to  which  the 
reader  must  look  to  my  pen),  I  will  convey  as  correct  an  account 
as  I  can,  and  leave  the  reader  to  imagine  the  rest ;  or  look  to  other 
books  for  what  I  may  have  omitted. 

While  at  the  Choctaw  agency  it  was  announced,  that  there  was 
to  be  a  great  play  on  a  certain  day,  within  a  few  miles,  on  which 
occasion  I  attended,  and  made  the  three  sketches  which  are  hereto 
annexed ;  and  also  the  following  entry  in  my  note-book,  which  I 
literally  copy  out : — 

Monday  afternoon  at  three  o’clock,  I  rode  out  with  Lieutenants 
S.  and  M.,  to  a  very  pretty  prairie,  about  six  miles  distant,  to  the 
ball-playground  of  the  Choctaws,  where  we  found  several  thousand 
Indians  encamped.  There  were  two  points  of  timber  about  half  a 
mile  apart,  in  which  the  two  parties  for  the  play,  with  their  respective 
families  and  friends,  were  encamped ;  and  lying  between  them,  the 
prairie  on  which  the  game  was  to  be  played.  My  companions  and 
myself,  although  we  had  been  apprised,  that  to  see  the  whole  of  a 
ball-play,  we  must  remain  on  the  ground  all  the  night  previous,  had 
brought  nothing  to  sleep  upon,  resolving  to  keep  our  eyes  open,  and 
see  what  transpired  through  the  night.  During  the  afternoon,  we 
loitered  about  amongst  the  different  tents  and  shantees  of  the  two 
encampments,  and  afterwards,  at  sundown,  witnessed  the  ceremony 
of  measuring  out  the  ground,  and  erecting  the  “  byes  ”  or  goals  which 
were  to  guide  the  play.  Each  party  had  their  goal  made  with  two 
upright  posts,  about  25  feet  high  and  six  feet  apart,  set  firm  in  the 
ground,  with  a  pole  across  at  the  top.  These  goals  were  about  forty 


142 


or  fifty  rods  apart ;  and  at  a  point  just  half  way  between,  was  another 
small  stake,  driven  down,  where  the  ball  was  to  be  thrown  up  at  the- 
firing  of  a  gun,  to  be  struggled  for  by  the  players.  All  this  prepara¬ 
tion  was  made  by  some  old  men,  who  were,  it  seems,  selected  to  be 
the  judges  of  the  play,  who  drew  a  line  from  one  bye  to  the  other; 
to  which  directly  came  from  the  woods,  on  both  sides,  a  great  con¬ 
course  of  women  and  old  men,  boys  and  girls,  and  dogs  and  horses, 
where  bets  were  to  be  made  on  the  play.  The  betting  was  all  done 
across  this  line,  and  seemed  to  be  chiefly  left  to  the  women,  who 
seemed  to  have  martialled  out  a  little  of  everything  that  their  houses 
and  their  fields  possessed,  goods  and  chattels — knives — dresses — 
blankets — pots  and  kettles — dogs  and  horses,  and  gun3 ;  and  all  were- 
placed  in  the  possession  of  stake-holders,  who  sat  by  them,  and  watched 
them  on  the  ground  all  night,  preparatory  to  the  play. 

The  sticks  with  which  this  tribe  play,  are  bent  into  an  oblong 
hoop  at  the  end,  with  a  sort  of  slight  web  of  small  thongs  tied  across, 
to  prevent  the  ball  from  passing  through.  The  players  hold  one  of 
these  in  each  hand,  and  by  leaping  into  the  air,  they  catch  the  ball 
between  the  two  nettings  and  throw  it,  without  being  allowed  to 
strike  it,  or  catch  it  in  their  hands. 

The  mode  in  which  these  sticks  are  constructed  and  used,  will  be 
seen  in  the  portrait  of  Tullock-chish-ko  (he  who  drinks  the  juice  of  the 
stone),  the  most  distinguished  ball-player  of  the  Choctaw  nation  (Fig. 
223),  represented  in  his  ball-play  dress,  with  his  ball-sticks  in  his 
hands.  In  every  ball-play  of  these  people,  it  is  a  rule  of  the  play, 
that  no  man  shall  wear  moccasins  on  his  feet,  or  any  other  dress 
than  his  breech-cloth  around  his  waist,  with  a  beautiful  bead  belt, 
and  a  “  tail”  made  of  white  horsehair  or  quills,  and  a  “  mane  ”  on  the 
neck,  of  horsehair  dyed  of  various  colours. 

This  game  had  been  arranged  and  “  made  up,”  three  or  four 
months  before  the  parties  met  to  play  it,  and  in  the  following 
manner  : — The  two  champions  who  led  the  two  parties,  and  had  the 
alternate  choosing  of  the  players  through  the  whole  tribe,  sent 
runners,  with  the  ball-sticks  most  fantastically  ornamented  with 
ribbons  and  red  paint,  to  be  touched  by  each  one  of  the  chosen 
players ;  who  thereby  agreed  to  be  on  the  spot  at  the  appointed 
time  and  ready  for  the  play.  The  ground  having  been  all  prepared 
and  preliminaries  of  the  game  all  settled,  and  the  bettings  all  made, 
and  goods  all  “  staked,”  night  came  on  without  the  appearance  of  any 
players  on  the  ground.  But  soon  after  dark,  a  procession  of  lighted 
flambeaux  was  seen  coming  from  each  encampment,  to  the  ground 
where  the  players  assembled  around  their  respective  byes ;  and  at 


126 


143 


the  beat  of  the  drums  and  chants  of  the  women,  each  party  of 
players  commenced  the  “  ball-play  dance  ”  (Fig.  224).  Each  party 
danced  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour  around  their  respective  byes,  in  their 
ball-play  dress ;  rattling  their  ball-sticks  together  in  the  most  violent 
manner,  and  all  singing  as  loud  as  they  could  raise  their  voices ; 
whilst  the  women  of  each  party,  who  had  their  goods  at  stake,  formed 
into  two  rows  on  the  line  between  the  two  parties  of  players,  and 
danced  also,  in  a  uniform  step,  and  all  their  voices  joined  in  chants 
to  the  Great  Spirit ;  in  which  they  were  soliciting  his  favour  in  de¬ 
ciding  the  game  to  their  advantage  ;  and  also  encouraging  the  players 
to  exert  every  power  they  possessed,  in  the  struggle  that  was  to  ensue. 
In  the  meantime,  four  old  medicine-men,  who  were  to  have  the  start¬ 
ing  of  the  ball,  and  who  were  to  be  judges  of  the  play,  were 
seated  at  the  point  where  the  ball  was  to  be  started ;  and  busily 
smoking  to  the  Great  Spirit  for  their  success  in  judging  rightly,  and 
impartially,  between  the  parties  in  so  important  an  affair. 

This  dance  was  one  of  the  most  picturesque  scenes  imaginable, 
and  was  repeated  at  intervals  of  every  half  hour  during  the  night, 
and  exactly  in  the  same  manner ;  so  that  the  players  were  certainly 
awake  all  the  night,  and  arranged  in  their  appropriate  dress,  pre¬ 
pared  for  the  play  which  was  to  commence  at  nine  o’clock  the  next 
morning.  In  the  morning,  at  the  hour,  the  two  parties  and  all  their 
friends,  were  drawn  out  and  over  the  ground ;  when  at  length  the 
game  commenced,  by  the  judges  throwing  up  the  ball  at  the  firing 
•of  a  gun ;  when  an  instant  struggle  ensued  between  the  players,  who 
were  some  six  or  seven  hundred  in  numbers,  and  were  mutually  en¬ 
deavouring  to  catch  the  ball  in  their  sticks,  and  throw  it  home  and 
between  their  respective  stakes  ;  which,  whenever  successfully  done, 
counts  one  for  game.  In  this  game  every  player  was  dressed  alike, 
that  is  divested  of  all  dress,  except  the  girdle  and  the  tail,  which  I 
have  before  described  ;  and  in  these  desperate  struggles  for  the 
hall,  when  it  is  up  (Fig.  225,  where  hundreds  are  running  together 
and  leaping,  actually  over  each  other’s  heads,  and  darting  between 
their  adversaries  legs,  tripping  and  throwing,  and  foiling  each  other 
in  every  possible  manner,  and  every  voice  raised  to  the  highest  key, 
in  shrill  yelps  and  barks) !  there  are  rapid  successions  of  feats,  and  of 
incidents,  that  astonish  and  amuse  far  beyond  the  conception  of  any 
one  who  has  not  had  the  singular  good  luck  to  witness  them.  In 
these  struggles,  every  mode  is  used  that  can  be  devised,  to  oppose  the 
progress  of  the  foremost,  who  is  likely  to  get  the  ball ;  and  these 
obstructions  often  meet  desperate  individual  resistance,  which  ter¬ 
minates  in  a  violent  scuffle,  and  sometimes  in  fisticuffs ;  when  their 


144 


sticks  are  dropped,  and  the  parties  are  unmolested,  whilst  they  are 
settling  it  between  themselves ;  unless  it  be  by  a  general  stampedo,  to 
which  they  are  subject  who  are  down,  if  the  ball  happens  to  pass  in 
their  direction.  Every  weapon,  by  a  rule  of  all  ball-plays,  is  laid  by 
in  their  respective  encampments,  and  no  man  allowed  to  go  for  one ; 
so  that  the  sudden  broils  that  take  place  on  the  ground,  are  pre¬ 
sumed  to  be  as  suddenly  settled  without  any  probability  of  much 
personal  injury ,  and  no  one  is  allowed  to  interfere  in  any  way  with 
the  contentious  individuals. 

There  are  times,  when  the  ball  gets  to  the  ground  (Fig.  226),  and 
such  a  confused  mass  rushing  together  around  it,  and  knocking  their 
sticks  together,  without  the  possibility  of  any  one  getting  or  seeing 
it,  for  the  dust  that  they  raise,  that  the  spectator  loses  his  strength, 
and  everything  else  but  his  senses ;  when  the  condensed  mass  of  ball- 
sticks,  and  shins,  and  bloody  noses,  is  carried  around  the  different 
parts  of  the  ground,  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour  at  a  time,  without  any 
one  of  the  mass  being  able  to  see  the  ball ;  and  which  they  are  often 
thus  scuffling  for,  several  minutes  after  it  has  been  thrown  off,  and 
played  over  another  part  of  the  ground. 

For  each  time  that  the  ball  was  passed  between  the  stakes  of 
either  party,  one  was  counted  for  their  game,  and  a  halt  of  about  one 
minute;  when  it  was  again  started  by  the  judges  of  the  play,  and  a 
similar  struggle  ensued ;  and  so  on  until  the  successful  party  arrived 
to  100,  which  was  the  limit  of  the  game,  and  accomplished  at  an 
hour’s  sun,  when  they  took  the  stakes;  and  then,  by  a  previous 
agreement,  produced  a  number  of  jugs  of  whiskey,  which  gave  all  a. 
wholesome  drink,  and  sent  them  all  off  merry  and  in  good  humour, 
but  not  drunk. 

After  this  exciting  day,  the  concourse  was  assembled  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  agency  house,  where  we  had  a  great  variety  of  dances 
and  other  amusements  ;  the  most  of  which  I  have  described  on  former 
occasions.  One,  however,  was  new  to  me,  and  I  must  say  a  few 
words  of  it :  this  was  the  Eagle  Dance,  a  very  pretty  scene,  which  is. 
got  up  by  their  young  men,  in  honour  of  that  bird,  for  which  they 
seem  to  have  a  religious  regard.  This  picturesque  dance  was  given 
by  twelve  or  sixteen  men,  whose  bodies  were  chiefly  naked  and 
painted  white,  with  white  clay,  and  each  one  holding  in  his  hand  the 
tail  of  the  eagle,  while  his  head  was  also  decorated  with  an  eagle’s 
quill  (Fig.  227).  Spears  were  stuck  in  the  ground,  around  which  the 
dance  was  performed  by  four  men  at  a  time,  who  had  simultaneously, 
at  the  beat  of  the  drum,  jumped  up  from  the  ground  where  they  had 
all  sat  in  rows  of  four,  one  row  immediately  behind  the  other,  and 


145 


ready  to  take  the  place  of  the  first  four  when  they  left  the  ground 
fatigued,  which  they  did  by  hopping  or  jumping  around  behind  the 
rest,  and  taking  their  seats,  ready  to  come  up  again  in  their  turn, 
after  each  of  the  other  sets  had  been  through  the  same  forms. 

In  this  dance,  the  steps  or  rather  jumps,  were  different  from  any¬ 
thing  I  had  ever  witnessed  before,  as  the  dancers  were  squat  down, 
with  their  bodies  almost  to  the  ground,  in  a  severe  and  most  difficult 
posture,  as  will  have  been  seen  in  the  drawing. 

I  have  already,  in  a  former  Letter,  while  speaking  of  the  ancient 
custom  of  flattening  the  head,  given  a  curious  tradition  of  this 
interesting  tribe,  accounting  for  their  having  come  from  the  West, 
and  I  here  insert  another  or  two,  which  I  had,  as  well  as  the  former 
one,  from  the  lips  of  Peter  Pinchlin,  a  very  intelligent  and  influential 
man  in  the  tribe,  of  whom  I  have  spoken  in  page  140. 

The  Deluge.  “Our  people  have  always  had  a  tradition  of  the 
Deluge,  which  happened  in  this  way : — There  was  total  darkness  for 
a  great  time  over  the  whole  of  the  earth ;  the  Choctaw  doctors  or 
mystery-men  looked  out  for  daylight  for  a  long  time,  until  at  last 
they  despaired  of  ever  seeing  it,  and  the  whole  nation  were  very 
unhappy.  At  last  a  light  was  discovered  in  the  North,  and  there  was 
great  rejoicing,  until  it  was  found  to  be  great  mountains  of  water 
rolling  on,  which  destroyed  them  all,  except  a  few  families  who  had 
expected  it  and  built  a  great  raft,  on  which  they  were  saved.” 

Future  State.  “  Our  people  all  believe  that  the  spirit  lives  in  a 
future  state — that  it  has  a  great  distance  to  travel  after  death  towards 
the  West — that  it  has  to  cross  a  dreadful  deep  and  rapid  stream, 
which  is  hemmed  in  on  both  sides  by  high  and  rugged  hills — over  this 
stream,  from  hill  to  hill,  there  lies  a  long  and  slippery  pine-log,  with 
the  bark  peeled  off,  over  which  the  dead  have  to  pass  to  the  delight¬ 
ful  hunting-grounds.  On  the  other  side  of  the  stream  there  are  six 
persons  of  the  good  hunting-grounds,  with  rocks  in  their  hands,  which 
they  throw  at  them  all  when  they  are  on  the  middle  of  the  log.  The 
good  walk  on  safely,  to  the  good  hunting-grounds,  where  there  is  one 
continual  day — where  the  trees  are  always  green — where  the  sky  has 
no  clouds — where  there  are  continual  fine  and  cooling  breezes — where 
there  is  one  continual  scene  of  feasting,  dancing,  and  rejoicing — where 
there  is  no  pain  or  trouble,  and  people  never  grow  old,  but  for  ever 
live  young  and  enjoy  the  youthful  pleasures. 

“  The  wicked  see  the  stones  coming,  and  try  to  dodge,  by  which 
they  fall  from  the  log,  and  go  down  thousands  of  feet  to  the  water 
which  is  dashing  over  the  rocks,  and  is  stinking  with  dead  fish,  and 
animals,  where  they  are  carried  around  and  brought  continually  back 
VOL.  II  K 


146 


to  the  same  place  in  whirlpools — where  the  trees  are  all  dead,  and 
the  waters  are  full  of  toads  and  lizards,  and  snakes — where  the  dead 
are  always  hungry,  and  have  nothing  to  eat — are  always  sick,  and 
never  die — where  the  sun  never  shines,  and  where  the  wicked  are 
continually  climbing  up  by  thousands  on  the  sides  of  a  high  rock  from 
which  they  can  overlook  the  beautiful  country  of  the  good  hunting- 
grounds,  the  place  of  the  happy,  but  never  can  reach  it.” 

Origin  of  the  Craw-fish  band.  “  Our  people  have  amongst  them  a 
band  which  is  called  the  Craw-fish  band.  They  formerly,  but  at  a 
very  remote  period,  lived  under  ground,  and  used  to  come  up  out  of 
the  mud — they  were  a  species  of  craw-fish ;  and  they  went  on  their 
hands  and  feet,  and  lived  in  a  large  cave  deep  under  ground,  where 
there  was  no  light  for  several  miles.  They  spoke  no  language  at  all, 
nor  could  they  understand  any.  The  entrance  to  their  cave  was 
through  the  mud — and  they  used  to  run  down  through  that,  and  into 
their  cave ;  and  thus,  the  Choctaws  were  for  a  long  time  unable  to 
molest  them.  The  Choctaws  used  to  lay  and  wait  for  them  to  come 
out  into  the  sun,  where  they  would  try  to  talk  to  them  and  cultivate 
an  acquaintance. 

“  One  day  a  parcel  of  them  were  run  upon  so  suddenly  by  the 
Choctaws,  that  they  had  no  time  to  go  through  the  mud  into  their 
cave,  but  were  driven  into  it  by  another  entrance,  which  they  had 
through  the  rocks.  The  Choctaws  then  tried  a  long  time  to  smoke 
them  out,  and  at  last  succeeded — they  treated  them  kindly — taught 
them  the  Choctaw  language — taught  them  to  walk  on  two  legs — 
made  them  cut  off  their  toe  nails,  and  pluck  the  hair  from  their 
bodies,  after  which  they  adopted  them  into  their  nation — and  the 
remainder  of  them  are  living  under  ground  to  this  day.” 


LETTER — No.  50 


FORT  SNELLING,  FALL  OF  ST  ANTHONY 

Having  recruited  my  health  during  the  last  winter,  in  recreation 
and  amusements  on  the  coast  of  Florida,  like  a  bird  of  passage  I 
started,  at  the  rallying  notes  of  the  swan  and  the  wild  goose,  for  the 
cool  and  freshness  of  the  North,  but  the  gifted  passengers  soon  left 
me  behind.  I  found  them  here,  their  nests  built — their  eggs  hatched 
— their  offspring  fledged  and  figuring  in  the  world,  before  I  arrived. 

The  majestic  river  from  the  Balize  to  the  Fall  of  St  Anthony,  I 
have  just  passed  over;  with  a  high-wrought  mind,  filled  with  amaze¬ 
ment  and  wonder,  like  other  travellers  who  occasionally  leave  the 
stale  and  profitless  routine  of  the  “  Fashionable  Tour,”  to  gaze  with 
admiration  upon  the  wild  and  native  grandeur  and  majesty  of  this 
great  Western  world.  The  Upper  Mississippi,  like  the  Upper 
Missouri,  must  be  approached  to  be  appreciated ;  for  all  that  can  be 
seen  on  the  Mississippi  below  St  Louis,  or  for  several  hundred  miles 
above  it,  gives  no  hint  or  clue  to  the  magnificence  of  the  scenes 
which  are  continually  opening  to  the  view  of  the  traveller,  and 
riveting  him  to  the  deck  of  the  steamer,  through  sunshine,  lightning 
or  rain,  from  the  mouth  of  the  Ouisconsin  to  the  Fall  of  St  Anthony, 

The  traveller,  in  ascending  the  river,  will  see  but  little  of 
picturesque  beauty  in  the  landscape,  until  he  reaches  Rock  Island ; 
and  from  that  point  he  will  find  it  growing  gradually  more  interest¬ 
ing,  until  he  reaches  Prairie  du  Chien ;  and  from  that  place  until  he 
arrives  at  Lake  Pepin,  every  reach  and  turn  in  the  river  presents  to 
his  eye  a  more  immense  and  magnificent  scene  of  grandeur  and 
beauty.  From  day  to  day,  the  eye  is  riveted  in  listless,  tireless 
admiration,  upon  the  thousand  bluffs  which  tower  in  majesty  above 
the  river  on  either  side,  and  alternate  as  the  river  bends,  into  count¬ 
less  fascinating  forms. 

The  whole  face  of  the  country  is  covered  with  a  luxuriant  growth 
of  grass,  whether  there  is  timber  or  not ;  and  the  magnificent  bluffs, 
studding  the  sides  of  the  river,  and  rising  in  the  forms  of  immense 
cones,  domes,  and  ramparts,  give  peculiar  pleasure,  from  the  deep  and 
soft  green  in  which  they  are  clad  up  their  broad  sides,  and  to  their 
extreme  tops,  with  a  carpet  of  grass,  with  spots  and  clusters  of 


148 


timber  of  a  deeper  green ;  and  apparently  in  many  places,  arranged 
in  orchards  and  pleasure-grounds  by  the  hands  of  art. 

The  scenes  that  are  passed  between  Prairie  du  Chien  and  St 
Peters,  including  Lake  Pepin,  between  whose  magnificently  turretted 
shores  one  passes  for  twenty-two  miles,  will  amply  reward  the 
tourist  for  the  time  and  expense  of  a  visit  to  them.  And  to  him 
or  her  of  too  little  relish  for  Nature’s  rude  works,  to  profit  as  they 
pass,  there  will  be  found  a  redeeming  pleasure  at  the  mouth  of  St 
Peters  and  the  Fall  of  St  Anthony.  This  scene  has  often  been 
described,  and  I  leave  it  for  the  world  to  come  and  gaze  upon  for 
themselves ;  recommending  to  them  at  the  same  time,  to  denominate 
the  next  “  Fashionable  Tour,”  a  trip  to  St  Louis ;  thence  by  steamer 
to  Pock  Island,  Galena,  Dubuque,  Prairie  du  Chien,  Lake  Pepin,  St 
Peters,  Fall  of  St  Anthony,  back  to  Prairie  du  Chien,  from  thence  to 
Fort  Winnebago,  Green  Bay,  Mackinaw,  Sault  de  St  Mary,  Detroit, 
Buffalo,  Niagara,  and  home.  This  Tour  would  comprehend  but  a 
small  part  of  the  Great  “Far  West”;  but  it  will  furnish  to  the 
traveller  a  fair  sample,  and  being  a  part  of  it  which  is  now  made  so 
easily  accessible  to  the  world,  and  the  only  part  of  it  to  which  ladies 
can  have  access,  I  would  recommend  to  all  who  have  time  and 
inclination  to  devote  to  the  enjoyment  of  so  splendid  a  Tour,  to  wait 
not,  but  make  it  while  the  subject  is  new,  and  capable  of  producing 
the  greatest  degree  of  pleasure.  To  the  world  at  large,  this  trip  is 
one  of  surpassing  interest — to  the  artist  it  has  a  double  relish,  and 
to  me,  still  further  inducements ;  inasmuch  as,  many  of  the  tribes  of 
Indians  which  I  have  met  with,  furnish  manners  and  customs  which 
have  awakened  my  enthusiasm,  and  afforded  me  interesting  materials 
for  my  Gallery. 

To  give  to  the  reader  a  better  idea  of  the  character  of  the  scenes 
which  I  have  above  described,  along  the  stately  shores  of  the  Upper 
Mississippi,  I  have  here  inserted  a  river  view  taken  about  one 
hundred  miles  below  this  place  (Fig.  228) ;  and  another  of 
“  Dubuque’s  Grave  ”  (Fig.  229),  about  equi-distant  between  this  and 
St  Louis ;  and  both  fairly  setting  forth  the  predominant  character  of 
the  shores  of  the  Upper  Mississippi,  which  are  everywhere  covered, 
as  far  as  the  eye  can  behold,  with  a  green  turf,  and  occasional  forest 
trees,  as  seen  in  the  drawings. 

Dubuque's  Grave  is  a  place  of  great  notoriety  on  this  river,  in 
consequence  of  its  having  been  the  residence  and  mining  place  of  the 
first  lead  mining  pioneer  of  these  regions,  by  the  name  of  Dubuque, 
who  held  his  title  under  a  grant  from  the  Mexican  Government  (I 
think),  and  settled  by  the  side  of  this  huge  bluff,  on  the  pinnacle  of 


129 


If 1 1 


It.  fat&ni 


149 


which  he  erected  the  tomb  to  receive  his  own  body,  and  placed  over 
it  a  cross  with  his  own  inscription  on  it.  After  his  death,  his  body 
was  placed  within  the  tomb,  at  his  request,  lying  in  state  (and 
uncovered  except  with  his  winding-sheet),  upon  a  large  flat  stone, 
where  it  was  exposed  to  the  view,  as  his  bones  now  are,  to  the  gaze 
of  every  traveller  who  takes  the  pains  to  ascend  this  beautiful,  grassy 
and  lily-covered  mound  to  its  top,  and  peep  through  the  gratings  of 
two  little  windows,  which  have  admitted  the  eyes,  but  stopped  the 
sacrilegious  hands  of  thousands  who  have  taken  a  walk  to  it. 

At  the  foot  of  this  bluff,  there  is  now  an  extensive  smelting 
furnace,  where  vast  quantities  of  lead  are  melted  from  the  ores 
which  are  dug  out  of  the  hills  in  all  directions  about  it. 

The  Fall  of  St  Anthony  (Fig.  230),  which  is  900  miles  above  St 
Louis,  is  the  natural  curiosity  of  this  country,  and  nine  miles  above 
the  mouth  of  St  Peters,  from  whence  I  am  at  this  time  writing.  At 
this  place,  on  the  point  of  land  between  the  Mississippi  and  the  St 
Peters  rivers,  the  United  States  Government  have  erected  a  strong 
Fort,  which  has  taken  the  name  of  Fort  Snelling,  from  the  name  of  a 
distinguished  and  most  excellent  officer  of  that  name,  who  superin¬ 
tended  the  building  of  it.  The  site  of  this  Fort  is  one  of  the  most 
judicious  that  could  have  been  selected  in  the  country,  both  for  health 
and  defence,  and  being  on  an  elevation  of  100  feet  or  more  above  the 
water,  has  an  exceedingly  bold  and  picturesque  effect,  as  seen  in  Fig. 
231. 

This  Fort  is  generally  occupied  by  a  regiment  of  men  placed  here 
to  keep  the  peace  amongst  the  Sioux  and  Chippeways,  who  occupy 
the  country  about  it,  and  also  for  the  purpose  of  protecting  the  citizens 
on  the  frontier. 

The  Fall  of  St  Anthony  is  about  nine  miles  above  this  Fort,  and 
the  junction  of  the  two  rivers ;  and,  although  a  picturesque  and  spirited 
scene,  is  but  a  pigmy  in  size  to  Niagara,  and  other  cataracts  in  our 
country — the  actual  perpendicular  fall  being  but  eighteen  feet,  though 
of  half  a  mile  or  so  in  extent,  which  is  the  width  of  the  river ;  with 
brisk  and  leaping  rapids  above  and  below,  giving  life  and  spirit  to  the 
scene. 

The  Sioux  who  live  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Falls,  and  occupy  all  the 
country  about  here,  west  of  the  Mississippi,  are  a  part  of  the  great 
tribe  on  the  Upper  Missouri ;  and  the  same  in  most  of  their  customs, 
yet  very  dissimilar  in  personal  appearance,  from  the  changes  which 
civilised  examples  have  wrought  upon  them.  I  mentioned  in  a  former 
Letter,  that  the  country  of  the  Sioux,  extended  from  the  base  of  the 
Eocky  Mountains  to  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi ;  and  for  the  whole 


150 


of  that  way,  it  is  more  or  less  settled  by  this  immense  tribe,  bound¬ 
ing  the  east  side  of  their  country  by  the  Mississippi  Eiver. 

The  Sioux  in  these  parts,  who  are  out  of  reach  of  the  beavers  and 
buffaloes,  are  poor  and  very  meanly  clad,  compared  to  those  on  the 
Missouri,  where  they  are  in  the  midst  of  those  and  other  wild  animals, 
whose  skins  supply  them  with  picturesque  and  comfortable  dresses. 
The  same  deterioration  also  is  seen  in  the  morals  and  constitutions 
of  these,  as  amongst  all  other  Indians,  who  live  along  the  frontiers, 
in  the  vicinity  of  our  settlements,  where  whiskey  is  sold  to  them,  and 
the  small-pox  and  other  diseases  are  introduced  to  shorten  their  lives. 

The  principal  bands  of  the  Sioux  that  visit  this  place,  and  who 
live  in  the  vicinity  of  it,  are  those  known  as  the  Black  Dog’s  band — 
Eed  Wing’s  band,  and  Wa-be-sha’s  band;  each  band  known  in 
common  parlance,  by  the  name  of  its  chief,  as  I  have  mentioned. 
The  Black  Dog’s  band  reside  but  a  few  miles  above  Fort  Snelling, 
on  the  banks  of  the  St  Peters,  and  number  some  five  or  six  hundred. 
The  Eed  Wing’s  band  are  at  the  head  of  Lake  Pepin,  sixty  miles  below 
this  place  on  the  west  side  of  the  river.  And  Wa-be-sha’s  band  and 
village  are  some  sixty  or  more  miles  below  Lake  Pepin  on  the  west 
side  of  the  river,  on  a  beautiful  prairie,  known  (and  ever  will  be)  by 
the  name  of  “  Wa-be-she’s  prairie.”  Each  of  these  bands,  and  several 
others  that  live  in  this  section  of  country,  exhibit  considerable 
industry  in  their  agricultural  pursuits,  raising  very  handsome  corn¬ 
fields,  laying  up  their  food,  thus  procured,  for  their  subsistence 
during  the  long  and  tedious  winters. 

The  greater  part  of  the  inhabitants  of  these  bands  are  assembled, 
here  at  this  time,  affording  us,  who  are  visitors  here,  a  fine  and  wild 
scene  of  dances,  amusements,  etc.  They  seem  to  take  great  pleasure 
in  “showing  off”  in  these  scenes,  to  the  amusement  of  the  many 
fashionable  visitors,  both  ladies  and  gentlemen,  who  are  in  the  habit 
of  reaching  this  post,  as  steamers  are  arriving  at  this  place  every 
week  in  the  summer  from  St  Louis. 

Many  of  the  customs  of  these  people  create  great  surprise  in  the 
minds  of  the  travellers  of  the  East,  who  here  have  the  first  satisfactory 
opportunity  of  seeing  them ;  and  none,  I  observe,  has  created  more 
surprise,  and  pleasure  also,  particularly  amongst  the  ladies,  than  the 
mode  of  carrying  their  infants,  slung  on  their  backs,  in  their  beauti¬ 
fully  ornamented  cradles. 

The  custom  of  carrying  the  child  thus  is  not  peculiar  to  this  tribe, 
but  belongs  alike  to  all,  as  far  as  I  have  yet  visited  them ;  and  also 
as  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  learn  from  travellers,  who  have  been 
amongst  tribes  that  I  have  not  yet  seen.  The  child  in  its  earliest 


t:U 


i'ol 

"altoi 


151 


infancy,  has  its  back  lashed  to  a  straight  board,  being  fastened  to  it 
by  bandages,  which  pass  around  it  in  front,  and  on  the  back  of  the 
board  they  are  tightened  to  the  necessary  degree  by  lacing  strings, 
which  hold  it  in  a  straight  and  healthy  position,  with  its  feet  resting 
on  a  broad  hoop,  which  passes  around  the  foot  of  the  cradle,  and  the 
child’s  position  (as  it  rides  about  on  its  mother’s  back,  supported  by 
a  broad  strap  that  passes  across  her  forehead),  that  of  standing  erect, 
which,  no  doubt,  has  a  tendency  to  produce  straight  limbs,  sound 
lungs,  and  long  life.  In  Fig.  232,  letter  a,  is  a  correct  drawing  of  a 
Sioux  cradle,  which  is  in  my  Collection,  and  was  purchased  from  a 
Sioux  woman’s  back,  as  she  was  carrying  her  infant  in  it,  as  is  seen 
in  letter  d  of  the  same  Fig. 

In  this  instance,  as  is  often  the  case,  the  bandages  that  pass  around 
the  cradle,  holding  the  child  in,  are  all  the  way  covered  with  a  beautiful 
embroidery  of  porcupine  quills,  with  ingenious  figures  of  horses,  men, 
etc.  A  broad  hoop  of  elastic  wood  passes  around  in  front  of  the 
child’s  face,  to  protect  it  in  case  of  a  fall,  from  the  front  of  which  is 
suspended  a  little  toy  of  exquisite  embroidery,  for  the  child  to  handle 
and  amuse  itself  with.  To  this  and  other  little  trinkets  hanging  in 
front  of  it,  there  are  attached  many  little  tinselled  and  tinkling  things, 
of  the  brightest  colours,  to  amuse  both  the  eyes  and  the  ears  of  the 
child.  Whilst  travelling  on  horseback,  the  arms  of  the  child  are 
fastened  under  the  bandages,  so  as  not  to  be  endangered  if  the  cradle 
falls ;  and  when  at  rest,  they  are  generally  taken  out,  allowing  the 
infant  to  reach  and  amuse  itself  with  the  little  toys  and  trinkets  that 
are  placed  before  it,  and  within  its  reach.  This  seems  like  a  cruel 
mode,  but  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  it  is  a  very  good  one  for  the 
people  who  use  it,  and  well  adapted  to  the  circumstances  under  which 
they  live  ;  in  support  of  which  opinion,  I  offer  the  universality  of  the 
custom,  which  has  been  practised  for  centuries  amongst  all  the  tribes 
of  North  America,  as  a  legitimate  and  very  strong  reason.  It  is  not 
true  that  amongst  all  the  tribes  the  cradle  will  be  found  so  much 
ornamented  as  in  the  present  instance ;  but  the  model  is  essentially 
the  same,  as  well  as  the  mode  of  carrying  it. 

Along  the  frontiers,  where  the  Indians  have  been  ridiculed  for  the 
custom,  as  they  are  for  everything  that  is  not  civil  about  them,  they 
have  in  many  instances  departed  from  it ;  but  even  there,  they  will 
generally  be  seen  lugging  their  children  about  in  this  way,  when  they 
have  abandoned  almost  every  other  native  custom,  and  are  too  poor  to 
cover  it  with  more  than  rags  and  strings,  which  fasten  it  to  its  cradle. 

The  infant  is  carried  in  this  manner  until  it  is  five,  six,  or  seven 
months  old,  after  which  it  is  carried  on  the  back,  in  the  manner 


represented  in  two  of  the  figures  of  the  same  Fig.,  and  held  within 
the  folds  of  the  robe  or  blanket. 

The  modes  of  carrying  the  infant  when  riding,  are  also  here  shown, 
and  the  manner  in  which  the  women  ride,  which,  amongst  all  the 
tribes,  is  astride,  in  the  same  manner  as  that  practised  by  the  men. 

Letter  b  in  the  same  Fig.  is  a  mourning  cradle,  and  opens  to  the 
view  of  the  reader  another  very  curious  and  interesting  custom.  If 
the  infant  dies  during  the  time  that  is  allotted  to  it  to  be  carried  in 
this  cradle,  it  is  buried,  and  the  disconsolate  mother  fills  the  cradle 
with  black  quills  and  feathers,  in  the  parts  which  the  child’s  body 
had  occupied,  and  in  this  way  carries  it  around  with  her  wherever  she 
goes  for  a  year  or  more,  with  as  much  care  as  if  her  infant  were  alive 
and  in  it ;  and  she  often  lays  or  stands  it  leaning  against  the  side  of 
the  wigwam,  where  she  is  all  day  engaged  in  her  needlework,  and 
chatting  and  talking  to  it  as  familiarly  and  affectionately  as  if  it  were 
her  loved  infant,  instead  of  its  shell,  that  she  was  talking  to.  So- 
lasting  and  so  strong  is  the  affection  of  these  women  for  the  lost  child, 
that  it  matters  not  how  heavy  or  cruel  their  load,  or  how  rugged  the 
route  they  have  to  pass  over,  they  will  faithfully  carry  this,  and  care¬ 
fully  from  day  to  day,  and  even  more  strictly  perform  their  duties  to 
it,  than  if  the  child  were  alive  and  in  it. 

In  the  little  toy  that  I  have  mentioned,  and  which  is  suspended 
before  the  child’s  face,  is  carefully  and  superstitiously  preserved  the 
umbilicus,  which  is  always  secured  at  the  time  of  its  birth,  and  being 
rolled  up  into  a  little  wad  of  the  size  of  a  pea,  and  dried,  it  is  enclosed 
in  the  centre  of  this  little  bag,  and  placed  before  the  child’s  face,  as 
its  protector  and  its  security  for  “  good  luck  ”  and  long  life.  Letter  c, 
same  Fig.,  exhibits  a  number  of  forms  and  different  tastes  of  several 
of  these  little  toys,  which  I  have  purchased  from  the  women,  which 
they  were  very  willing  to  sell  for  a  trifling  present ;  but  in  every 
instance,  they  cut  them  open,  and  removed  from  within  a  bunch  of 
cotton  or  moss,  the  little  sacred  medicine,  which,  to  part  with,  would 
be  to  “  endanger  the  health  of  the  child  ” — a  thing  that  no  considera¬ 
tion  would  have  induced  them  in  any  instance  to  have  done. 

My  brush  has  been  busily  employed  at  this  place,  as  in  others ; 
and  amongst  the  dignitaries  that  I  have  painted,  is,  first  and  foremost, 
W %-mah-dc-iunck-a  (the  big  eagle),  commonly  called  the  “  Black 
Dog.”  This  is  a  very  noted  man,  and  chief  of  the  O-hah-kas-ka-toh- 
y-an-te  (long  avenue)  band  (Figs.  233  and  234). 

By  the  side  of  him  Toh-to-ivciU-kon-da-pee  (the  blue  medicine),  a 
noted  medicine-man,  of  the  Ting-tah-to-a  band ;  with  his  medicine  or 
mystery  drum,  made  of  deer-skins ;  and  his  mystery  rattles  made  of 


132 


cO 

cO 

CO 


133 


153 


antelope’s  hoofs,  in  his  hands.  This  notorious  old  man  was  profes¬ 
sionally  a  doctor  in  his  tribe,  but  not  very  distinguished,  until  my 
friend  Dr  Jarvis,  who  is  surgeon  for  the  post,  very  liberally  dealt  out 
from  the  public  medicine-chest,  occasional  “odds  and  ends”  to  him, 
and  with  a  professional  concern  for  the  poor  old  fellow’s  success, 
instructed  him  in  the  modes  of  their  application ;  since  which,  the 
effects  of  his  prescriptions  have  been  so  decided  amongst  his  tribe, 
whom  he  holds  in  ignorance  of  his  aid  in  his  mysterious  operations ; 
that  he  has  risen  quite  rapidly  into  notice,  within  the  few  last  years, 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  Fort ;  where  he  finds  it  most  easy  to  carry  out 
his  new  mode  of  practice,  for  reasons  above  mentioned. 

In  Figs.  235  and  236,  there  are  portraits  of  the  two  most  distin¬ 
guished  ball-players  in  the  Sioux  tribe,  whose  names  are  Ah-no-jc- 
nahfje  (he  who  stands  on  both  sides),  and  We-chusli-ta-doo-ta  (the  red 
man).  Both  of  these  young  men  stood  to  me  for  their  portraits,  in 
the  dresses  precisely  in  which  they  are  painted  ;  with  their  ball-sticks 
in  their  hands,  and  in  the  attitudes  of  the  play.  We  have  had 
several  very  spirited  plays  hero  within  the  few  past  days ;  and  each  of 
these  young  men  came  from  the  ball-play  ground  to  my  painting- 
room,  in  the  dress  in  which  they  had  just  struggled  in  the  play. 

It  will  be  seen  by  these  sketches,  that  the  custom  in  this  tribe 
differs  in  some  respects  from  that  of  the  Choctaws  and  other  Southern 
tribes,  of  which  I  have  before  spoken  ;  and  I  there  showed  that  they 
played  with  a  stick  in  each  hand,  when  the  Sioux  use  but  one  stick, 
which  is  generally  held  in  both  hands,  with  a  round  hoop  at  the  end, 
in  which  the  ball  is  caught  and  thrown  with  wonderful  tact ;  a  much 
more  difficult  feat,  I  should  think,  than  that  of  the  Choctaws,  who 
catch  the  ball  between  two  sticks.  The  tail  also,  in  this  tribe,  differs, 
inasmuch  as  it  is  generally  made  of  quills,  instead  of  white  horsehair, 
as  described  amongst  the  Choctaws.  In  other  respects,  the  rules  and 
manner  of  the  game  are  the  same  as  amongst  those  tribes. 

Several  others  of  the  distingufe  of  the  tribe,  I  have  also  painted 
here,  and  must  needs  refer  the  reader  to  the  Museum  for  further 
information  of  them. 


K 


LETTER— No.  51 


FORT  SNELLING,  FALL  OF  ST  ANTHONY 

The  fourth  of  July  was  hailed  and  celebrated  by  us  at  this  place,  in 
an  unusual,  and  not  uninteresting  manner.  With  the  presence  of 
several  hundreds  of  the  wildest  of  the  Chippeways,  and  as  many 
hundreds  of  the  Sioux ;  we  were  prepared  with  material  in  abund¬ 
ance  for  the  novel — for  the  wild  and  grotesque — as  well  as  for  the 
grave  and  ludicrous.  Major  Talliafferro,  the  Indian  agent,  to  aid  my 
views  in  procuring  sketches  of  manners  and  customs,  represented  to 
them  that  I  was  a  great  medicine-man,  who  had  visited,  and  witnessed 
the  sports  of,  a  vast  many  Indians  of  different  tribes,  and  had  come 
to  see  whether  the  Sioux  and  Chippeways  were  equal  in  a  ball-play, 
etc.,  to  their  neighbours ;  and  that  if  they  would  come  in  on  the  next 
day  (fourth  of  July),  and  give  us  a  ball-play,  and  some  of  their 
dances,  in  their  best  style,  he  would  have  the  big  gun  fired  twenty- 
one  times  (the  customary  salute  for  that  day),  which  they  easily 
construed  into  a  high  compliment  to  themselves.  This,  with  still 
stronger  inducements,  a  barrel  of  flour — a  quantity  of  pork  and 
tobacco,  which  I  gave  them,  brought  the  scene  about  on  the  day  of 
independence,  as  follows : — About  eleven  o’clock  (the  usual  time  for 
Indians  to  make  their  appearance  on  any  great  occasion),  the  young 
men,  who  were  enlisted  for  ball-play,  made  their  appearance  on  the 
ground  with  ball-sticks  in  hand — with  no  other  dress  on  than  the 
flap,  and  attached  to  a  girdle  or  ornamental  sash,  a  tail,  extending 
nearly  to  the  ground,  made  of  the  choicest  arrangement  of  quills  and 
feathers,  or  of  the  hair  of  white  horses’  tails.  After  an  excited  and 
warmly  contested  play  of  two  hours,  they  adjourned  to  a  place  in 
front  of  the  agent’s  office,  where  they  entertained  us  for  two  or  three 
hours  longer,  with  a  continued  variety  of  their  most  fanciful  and 
picturesque  dances.  They  gave  us  the  beggar's  dance — the  buffalo- 
dance — the  bear-dance — the  eagle-dance — and  dance  of  the  braves. 
This  last  is  peculiarly  beautiful,  and  exciting  to  the  feelings  in  the 
highest  degree. 

At  intervals  they  stop,  and  one  of  them  steps  into  the  ring,  and 
vociferates  as  loud  as  possible,  with  the  most  significant  gesticula¬ 
tions,  the  feats  of  bravery  which  he  has  performed  during  his  life — 

154 


155 


he  boasts  of  the  scalps  he  has  taken — of  the  enemies  he  has 
vanquished,  and  at  the  same  time  carries  his  body  through  all  the 
motions  and  gestures,  which  have  been  used  during  these  scenes  when 
they  were  transacted.  At  the  end  of  his  boasting,  all  assent  to  the 
truth  of  his  story,  and  give  in  their  approbation  by  the  gutteral 
“  waugh  !  ”  and  the  dance  again  commences.  At  the  next  interval, 
another  makes  his  boasts,  and  another,  and  another,  and  so  on. 

During  this  scene  a  little  trick  was  played  off  in  the  following 
manner,  which  produced  much  amusement  and  laughter.  A  woman 
of  goodly  size,  and  in  woman’s  attire,  danced  into  the  ring  (which 
seemed  to  excite  some  surprise,  as  women  are  never  allowed  to  join 
in  the  dance),  and  commenced  “  sawing  the  air,”  and  boasting  of  the 
astonishing  feats  of  bravery  she  had  performed — of  the  incredible 
number  of  horses  she  had  stolen — of  the  scalps  she  had  taken,  etc., 
etc. ;  until  her  feats  surpassed  all  that  had  ever  been  heard  of — 
sufficient  to  put  all  the  warriors  who  had  boasted,  to  the  blush. 
They  all  gave  assent,  however,  to  what  she  had  said,  and  apparently 
credence  too ;  and  to  reward  so  extraordinary  a  feat  of  female  prowess, 
they  presented  to  her  a  kettle,  a  cradle,  beads,  ribbons,  etc.  After 
getting  her  presents,  and  placing  them  safely  in  the  hands  of  another 
matron  for  safe  keeping,  she  commenced  disrobing  herself;  and, 
almost  instantly  divesting  herself  of  a  loose  dress,  in  the  presence 
of  the  whole  company,  came  out  in  a  soldier’s  coat  and  pantaloons  ! 
and  laughed  at  them  excessively  for  their  mistake  !  She  then  com¬ 
menced  dancing  and  making  her  boasts  of  her  exploits,  assuring 
them  that  she  was  a  man  and  a  great  brave.  They  all  gave  unquali¬ 
fied  assent  to  this,  acknowledged  their  error,  and  made  her  other 
presents  of  a  gun,  a  horse,  of  tobacco,  and  a  war-club.  After  her 
boasts  were  done,  and  the  presents  secured  as  before,  she  deliberately 
threw  off  the  pantaloons  and  coat,  and  presented  herself  at  once,  and 
to  their  great  astonishment  and  confusion,  in  a  beautiful  woman’s 
dress.  The  tact  with  which  she  performed  these  parts,  so  uniformly 
pleased,  that  it  drew  forth  thundering  applause  from  the  Indians,  as 
well  as  from  the  spectators ;  and  the  chief  stepped  up  and  crowned 
her  head  with  a  beautiful  plume  of  the  eagle’s  quill,  rising  from  a 
crest  of  the  swan’s  down.  My  wife,  who  was  travelling  this  part  of 
country  with  me,  was  a  spectator  of  these  scenes,  as  well  as  the 
ladies  and  officers  of  the  garrison,  whose  polite  hospitality  we  are  at 
this  time  enjoying. 

Several  days  after  this,  the  plains  of  St  Peters  and  St  Anthony, 
rang  with  the  continual  sounds  of  drums  and  rattles,  in  time  with 
the  thrilling  yells  of  the  dance,  until  it  had  doubly  ceased  to  be 


156 


novelty.  General  Patterson,  of  Philadelphia,  and  his  family  arrived 
about  this  time,  however,  and  a  dance  was  got  up  for  their  amuse¬ 
ment  ;  and  it  proved  to  be  one  of  an  unusual  kind,  and  interesting  to 
all.  Considerable  preparation  was  made  for  the  occasion,  and  the 
Indians  informed  me,  that  if  they  could  get  a  couple  of  dogs  that 
were  of  no  use  about  the  garrison,  they  would  give  us  their  favourite, 
the  “  dog  dance."  The  two  dogs  were  soon  produced  by  the  officers, 
and  in  presence  of  the  whole  assemblage  of  spectators,  they  butchered 
them  and  placed  their  two  hearts  and  livers  entire  and  uncooked,  on 
a  couple  of  crotches  about  as  high  as  a  man’s  face  (Fig.  237).  These 
were  then  cut  into  strips,  about  an  inch  in  width,  and  left  hanging 
in  this  condition,  with  the  blood  and  smoke  upon  them.  A  spirited 
dance  then  ensued ;  and,  in  a  confused  manner,  every  one  sung  forth 
his  own  deeds  of  bravery  in  ejaculatory  gutturals,  which  were 
almost  deafening ;  and  they  danced  up,  two  at  a  time  to  the  stakes, 
and  after  spitting  several  times  upon  the  liver  and  hearts,  catched  a 
p»iece  in  their  mouths,  bit  it  off,  and  swallowed  it.  This  was  all  done 
without  losing  the  step  (which  was  in  time  to  their  music),  or  inter¬ 
rupting  the  times  of  their  voices. 

Each  and  every  one  of  them  in  this  wise  bit  off  and  swallowed  a 
piece  of  the  livers,  until  they  they  were  demolished ;  with  the  excep¬ 
tion  of  the  two  last  pieces  hanging  on  the  stakes,  which  a  couple  of 
them  carried  in  their  mouths,  and  communicated  to  the  mouths  of 
the  two  musicians  who  swallowed  them.  This  is  one  of  the  most 
valued  dances  amongst  the  Sioux,  though  by  no  means  the  most 
beautiful  or  most  pleasing.  The  beggar’s  dance,  the  discovery  dance, 
and  the  eagle  dance,  are  far  more  graceful  and  agreeable.  The  dog 
dance  is  one  of  distinction,  inasmuch  as  it  can  only  be  danced  by  those 
who  have  taken  scalps  from  the  enemies’  heads,  and  come  forward 
boasting,  that  they  killed  their  enemy  in  battle,  and  swallowed  a 
piece  of  his  heart  in  the  same  manner. 

As  the  Sioux  own  and  occupy  all  the  country  on  the  west  bank 
of  the  river  in  this  vicinity ;  so  do  the  Chippeways  claim  all  lying 
east,  from  the  mouth  of  the  Chippeway  River,  at  the  outlet  of  Lake 
Pepin,  to  the  source  of  the  Mississippi ;  and  within  the  month  past, 
there  have  been  one  thousand  or  more  of  them  encamped  here,  on 
business  wTith  the  Indian  agent  and  Sioux,  with  whom  they  have 
recently  had  some  difficulty.  These  two  hostile  foes,  who  have,  time 
out  of  mind,  been  continually  at  war,  are  now  encamped  here,  on 
different  sides  of  the  Fort ;  and  all  difficulties  having  been  arranged 
by  their  agent,  in  whose  presence  they  have  been  making  their 
speeches,  for  these  two  weeks  past,  have  been  indulging  in  every  sort 


L^ 

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23o 


238 


G  Cauti/un. 


2-39 


157 


of  their  amusements,  uniting  in  their  dances,  ball-plays  and  other 
games ;  and  feasting  and  smoking  together,  only  to  raise  the  war- 
cry  and  the  tomahawk  again,  when  they  get  upon  their  hunting- 
grounds. 

Major  Talliafferro  is  the  Government  agent  for  the  Sioux  at  this 
place,  and  furnishes  the  only  instance  probably,  of  a  public  servant 
on  these  frontiers,  who  has  performed  the  duties  of  his  office,  strictly 
and  faithfully,  as  well  as  kindly,  for  fifteen  years.  The  Indians 
think  much  of  him,  and  call  him  Great  Father,  to  whose  advice  they 
listen  with  the  greatest  attention. 

The  encampment  of  the  Chippeways,  to  which  I  have  been  a 
daily  visitor,  was  built  in  the  manner  seen  in  Fig.  238 :  their  wig¬ 
wams  made  of  birch  bark,  covering  the  frame  work,  which  was  of 
slight  poles  stuck  in  the  ground,  and  bent  over  at  the  top,  so  as  to 
give  a  rooflike  shape  to  the  lodge,  best  calculated  to  ward  off  rain  and 
winds. 

Through  this  curious  scene  I  was  strolling  a  few  days  since  with 
my  wife,  and  I  observed  the  Indian  women  gathering  around  her, 
anxious  to  shake  hands  with  her,  and  show  her  their  children,  of 
which  she  took  especial  notice ;  and  they  literally  filled  her  hands 
and  her  arms,  with  muk-kulcs  of  maple  sugar  which  they  manufacture, 
and  had  brought  in,  in  great  quantities  for  sale. 

After  the  business  and  amusements  of  this  great  Treaty  between 
the  Chippeways  and  Sioux  were  all  over,  the  Chippeways  struck 
their  tents  by  taking  them  down  and  rolling  up  their  bark  coverings, 
which,  with  their  bark  canoes  seen  in  the  picture,  turned  up  amongst 
their  wigwams,  were  carried  to  the  water’s  edge ;  and  all  things  being 
packed  in,  men,  women,  dogs,  and  all,  were  swiftly  propelled  by 
paddles  to  the  Fall  of  St  Anthony,  where  we  had  repaired  to  witness 
their  mode  of  passing  the  cataract,  by  “  making  (as  it  is  called)  the 
portage,”  which  we  found  to  be  a  very  curious  scene ;  and  was  done 
by  running  all  their  canoes  into  an  eddy  below  the  Fall,  and  as  near 
as  they  could  get  by  paddling ;  when  all  were  landed,  and  everything 
taken  out  of  the  canoes  (Fig.  239),  and  with  them  carried  by  the 
women,  around  the  Fall,  and  half  a  mile  or  so  above,  where  the 
canoes  were  put  into  the  water  again ;  and  goods  and  chattels  being 
loaded  in,  and  all  hands  seated,  the  paddles  were  again  put  to  work, 
and  the  light  and  bounding  crafts  upon  their  voyage. 

The  bark  canoe  of  the  Chippeways  is,  perhaps,  the  most  beautiful 
and  light  model  of  all  the  water  crafts  that  ever  were  invented.  They 
are  generally  made  complete  with  the  rind  of  one  birch  tree,  and  so 
ingeniously  shaped  and  sewed  together,  with  roots  of  the  tamarack. 


158 


which  they  call  wat-tap,  that  they  are  water-tight,  and  ride  upon  the 
water,  as  light  as  a  cork.  They  gracefully  lean  and  dodge  about, 
under  the  skilful  balance  of  an  Indian,  or  the  ugliest  squaw  ;  but  like 
everything  wild,  are  timid  and  treacherous  under  the  guidance  of 
white  man ;  and,  if  he  be  not  an  experienced  equilibrist,  he  is  sure 
to  get  two  or  three  times  soused,  in  his  first  endeavours  at  familiar 
acquaintance  with  them.  In  Fig.  240,  letter  a,  the  reader  will  see 
two  specimens  of  these  canoes  correctly  drawn ;  where  he  can  con¬ 
trast  them  and  their  shapes,  with  the  log  canoe,  letter  b  (or  “  dug 
out,”  as  it  is  often  called  in  the  Western  regions)  of  the  Sioux,  and 
many  other  tribes ;  which  is  dug  out  of  a  solid  log,  with  great  labour, 
by  these  ignorant  people,  who  have  but  few  tools  to  work  with. 

In  the  same  Fig.,  letter  c,  I  have  also  introduced  the  skin  canoes 
of  the  Mandans  (of  the  Upper  Missouri,  of  whom  I  have  spoken 
in  Volume  I.),  which  are  made  almost  round  like  a  tub,  by  straining 
a  buffalo’s  skin  over  a  frame  of  wicker  work,  made  of  willow  or  other 
boughs.  The  woman  in  paddling  these  awkward  tubs,  stands  in  the 
bow,  and  makes  the  stroke  with  the  paddle,  by  reaching  it  forward 
in  the  water  and  drawing  it  to  her,  by  which  means  she  pulls  the 
canoe  along  with  some  considerable  speed.  These  very  curious  and 
rudely  constructed  canoes  are  made  in  the  form  of  the  Welsh  coracle  ; 
and,  if  I  mistake  not,  propelled  in  the  same  manner,  which  is  a  very 
curious  circumstance ;  inasmuch  as  they  are  found  in  the  heart  of 
the  great  wilderness  of  America,  when  all  the  other  surrounding 
tribes  construct  their  canoes  in  decidedly  different  forms,  and  of 
different  materials. 

In  the  same  Fig.,  letter  d,  is  a  pair  of  Sioux  (and  in  letter  e,  of 
Chippeway)  snow  shoes,  which  are  used  in  the  deep  snows  of  the 
winter,  under  the  Indians’  feet,  to  buoy  him  up  as  he  runs  in  pursuit, 
of  his  game.  The  hoops  or  frames  of  these  are  made  of  elastic  wood, 
and  the  webbing,  of  strings  of  rawhide,  which  form  such  a  resistance 
to  the  snow,  as  to  carry  them  over  without  sinking  into  it;  and; 
enabling  them  to  come  up  with  their  game,  which  is  wallowing 
through  the  drifts,  and  easily  overtaken ;  as  in  the  buffalo  hunt,  in 
Fig,  109,  Volume  I. 

Of  the  portraits  of  chiefs  and  others  I  have  painted  amongst  the 
Chippeways  at  this  place,  two  distinguished  young  men  will  be  seen 
in  Figs.  241,  242.  The  first  by  the  name  of  Ka-bes-lcunk  (he  who 
travels  everywhere),  the  other,  Ka-be-mub-be  (he  who  sits  everywhere), 
both  painted  at  full  length,  in  full  dress,  and  just  as  they  were 
adorned  and  equipped,  even  to  a  quill  and  a  trinket. 

The  first  of  these  two  young  men  is,  no  doubt,  one  of  the  most 


136 


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remarkable  of  his  age  to  be  found  in  the  tribe.  Whilst  he  was  stand¬ 
ing  for  his  portrait,  which  was  in  one  of  the  officer’s  quarters  in  the 
Fort,  where  there  were  some  ten  or  fifteen  of  his  enemies  the  Sioux, 
seated  on  the  floor  around  the  room ;  he  told  me  to  take  particular 
pains  in  representing  eight  quills  which  were  arranged  in  his  head¬ 
dress,  which  he  said  stood  for  so  many  Sioux  scalps  that  he  had  taken 
with  his  left  hand,  in  which  he  was  grasping  his  war-club,  with  which 
hand  he  told  me  he  was  in  the  habit  of  making  all  his  blows. 

In  Fig.  244,  is  the  portrait  of  a  warrior  by  the  name  of  Ot-ta-wa 

(the  otaway), - with  his  pipe  in  his  hand  ;  and  in  Fig.  245,  the 

portrait  of  a  Chippeway  woman,  Ju-ah-kis-gaw,  with  her  child  in  its 
crib  or  cradle.  In  a  former  Letter  I  gave  a  minute  account  of  the 
Sioux  cradle,  and  here  the  reader  sees  the  very  similar  mode  amongst 
the  Chippeways ;  and  as  in  all  instances  that  can  be  found,  the 
ni-alikust-ahg  (or  umbilicus)  hanging  before  the  child’s  face  for  its 
supernatural  protector. 

This  woman’s  dress  was  mostly  made  of  civilised  manufactures, 
but  curiously  decorated  and  ornamented  according  to  Indian  taste. 

Many  were  the  dances  given  to  me  on  different  places,  of  which  I 
may  make  further  use  and  further  mention  on  future  occasions ;  but 
of  which  I  shall  name  but  one  at  present,  the  snow-shoe  dance  (Fig. 
243),  which  is  exceedingly  picturesque,  being  danced  with  the  snow- 
shoes  under  the  feet,  at  the  falling  of  the  first  snow  in  the  beginning  of 
winter ;  when  they  sing  a  song  of  thanksgiving  to  the  Great  Spirit 
for  sending  them  a  return  of  snow,  when  they  can  run  on  their  snow 
shoes  in  their  valued  hunts,  and  easily  take  the  game  for  their  food. 

About  this  lovely  spot  I  have  whiled  away  a  few  months  with 
great  pleasure,  and  having  visited  all  the  curiosities,  and  all  the 
different  villages  of  Indians  in  the  vicinity,  I  close  my  note-book  and 
start  in  a  few  days  for  Prairie  du  Chien,  which  is  300  miles  below 
this  ;  where  I  shall  have  new  subjects  for  my  brush  and  new  themes 
for  my  pen,  when  I  may  continue  my  epistles.  Adieu. 


LETTER— No.  52 


CAMP  DES  MOINES 

Soon  after  the  date  of  my  last  Letter,  written  at  St  Peters,  having 
placed  my  wife  on  board  of  the  steamer,  with  a  party  of  ladies,  for 
Prairie  du  Chien,  I  embarked  in  a  light  bark  canoe,  on  my  homeward 
course,  with  only  one  companion,  Corporal  Allen,  from  the  garrison, 
a  young  man  of  considerable  taste,  who  thought  he  could  relish  the 
transient  scenes  of  a  voyage  in  company  with  a  painter,  having, 
gained  the  indulgence  of  Major  Bliss,  the  commanding  officer,  with 
permission  to  accompany  me. 

With  stores  laid  in  for  a  ten  days’  voyage,  and  armed  for  any  emer¬ 
gency — with  sketch-book  and  colours  prepared,  we  shoved  off  and 
swiftly  glided  away  with  paddles  nimbly  plied,  resolved  to  see  and 
relish  every  thing  curious  or  beautiful  that  fell  in  our  way.  We 
lingered  along,  among  the  scenes  of  grandeur  which  presented  them¬ 
selves  amid  the  thousand  bluffs,  and  arrived  at  Prairie  du  Chien  in 
about  ten  days,  in  good  plight,  without  accident  or  incident  of  a 
thrilling  nature,  with  the  exception  of  one  instance  which  happened 
about  thirty  miles  below  St  Peters,  and  on  the  first  day  of  our  journey. 
In  the  after  part  of  the  day,  we  discovered  three  lodges  of  Sioux 
Indians  encamped  on  the  bank,  all  hallooing  and  waving  their 
blankets  for  us  to  come  in,  to  the  shore.  We  had  no  business  with 
them,  and  resolved  to  keep  on  our  course,  when  one  of  them  ran  into 
his  lodge,  and  coming  out  with  his  gun  in  his  hand,  levelled  it  at  us, 
and  gave  us  a  charge  of  buck-shot  about  our  ears.  One  of  them  struck 
in  my  canoe,  passing  through  several  folds  of  my  cloak,  which  was 
folded,  and  lying  just  in  front  of  my  knee,  and  several  others  struck 
so  near  on  each  side  as  to  spatter  the  water  into  our  faces.  There 
was  no  fun  in  this,  and  I  then  ran  my  canoe  to  the  shore  as  fast  as 
possible — they  all  ran,  men,  women,  and  children,  to  the  water’s  edge, 
meeting  us  with  yells  and  laughter  as  we  landed.  As  the  canoe  struck 
the  shore,  I  rose  violently  from  my  seat,  and  throwing  all  the  infuriated 
demon  I  could  into  my  face — thrusting  my  pistols  into  my  belt — a 
half  dozen  bullets  into  my  mouth — and  my  double-barrelled  gun  in 
my  hand — I  leaped  ashore  and  chased  the  lot  of  them  from  the  beach, 
throwing  myself,  by  a  nearer  route,  between  them  and  their  wigwams. 


161 


where  I  kept  them  for  some  time  at  a  stand,  with  my  barrels  pre¬ 
sented,  and  threats  (corroborated  with  looks  which  they  could  not 
misunderstand)  that  I  would  annihilate  the  whole  of  them  in  a  minute. 
As  the  gun  had  been  returned  to  the  lodge,  and  the  man  who  fired 
it  could  not  be  identified,  the  rascal’s  life  was  thereby  probably  pro¬ 
longed.  We  stood  for  some  time  in  this  position,  and  no  explanation 
could  be  made,  other  than  that  which  could  be  read  from  the  lip  and 
the  brow,  a  language  which  is  the  same,  and  read  alike,  among  all 
nations.  I  slipped  my  sketch-book  and  pencil  into  my  hand,  and 
under  the  muzzle  of  my  gun,  each  fellow  stood  for  his  likeness,  which 
I  made  them  understand,  by  signs,  were  to  be  sent  to  “  Muzzabucksa  ” 
(iron  cutter),  the  name  they  gave  to  Major  Talliafferro,  their  agent  at 
St  Peters. 

This  threat,  and  the  continued  vociferation  of  the  corporal  from  the 
canoe,  that  I  was  a  “  Grande  Capitaine,”  seemed  considerably  to  alarm 
them.  I  at  length  gradually  drew  myself  off,  but  with  a  lingering  eye 
upon  the  sneaking  rascals,  who  stood  in  sullen  silence,  with  one  eye 
upon  me,  and  the  other  upon  the  corporal ;  who  I  found  had  held  them 
at  bay  from  the  bow  of  his  canoe,  with  his  musket  levelled  upon  them 
— his  bayonet  fixed — his  cartouch  box  slung,  with  one  eye  in  full 
blaze  over  the  barrel,  and  the  other  drawn  down  within  two  parts  of 
an  inch  of  the  upper  corner  of  his  mouth.  At  my  approach,  his 
muscles  were  gradually  (but  somewhat  reluctantly)  relaxed.  We 
seated  ourselves,  and  quietly  dipped  our  paddles  again  on  our  way. 

Some  allowance  must  be  made  for  this  outrage,  and  many  others 
that  could  be  named,  that  have  taken  place  amongst  that  part  of  the 
Sioux  nation ;  they  have  been  for  many  years  past  made  drunkards, 
by  the  solicitations  of  white  men,  and  then  abused,  and  their  families 
also ;  for  which,  when  they  are  drunk  (as  in  the  present  instance), 
they  are  often  ready,  and  disposed  to  retaliate  and  to  return  insult 
for  injuries. 

We  went  on  peaceably  and  pleasantly  during  the  rest  of  our 
voyage,  having  ducks,  deer,  and  bass  for  our  game  and  our  food ;  our 
bed  was  generally  on  the  grass  at  the  foot  of  some  towering  bluff, 
where,  in  the  melancholy  stillness  of  night,  we  were  lulled  to  sleep 
by  the  liquid  notes  of  the  whip-poor-will ;  and  after  this  warbling 
ceased,  roused  by  the  mournful  complaints  of  the  starving  wolf,  or 
surprised  by  the  startling  interrogation,  “  who  !  who  !  who  !  ”  by  the 
winged  monarch  of  the  dark. 

There  is  a  something  that  fills  and  feeds  the  mind  of  an  enthusi¬ 
astic  man,  when  he  is  thrown  upon  natural  resources,  amidst  the  rude 
untouched  scenes  of  nature,  which  cannot  be  described ;  and  I  leave 

VOL.  II.  L 


162 


the  world  to  imagine  the  feelings  of  pleasure  with  which  I  found 
myself  again  out  of  the  din  of  artful  life,  among  scenes  of  grandeur 
worthy  the  whole  soul’s  devotion  and  admiration. 

When  the  morning’s  dew  was  shaken  off,  our  coffee  enjoyed — our 
light  bark  again  launched  upon  the  water,  and  the  chill  of  the  morning 
banished  by  the  quick  stroke  of  the  paddle,  and  the  busy  chant  of 
the  corporal’s  boat-song,  our  ears  and  our  eyes  were  open  to  the  rude 
scenes  of  romance  that  were  about  us — our  light  boat  ran  to  every 
ledge — dodged  into  every  slough  or  “ cut-off ”  to  be  seen — every 
mineral  was  examined — every  cave  explored — and  almost  every  bluff 
of  grandeur  ascended  to  the  top.  These  towering  edifices  of  nature, 
which  will  stand  the  admiration  of  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands, 
unchanged  and  unchangeable,  though  grand  and  majestic  to  the  eye 
of  the  passing  traveller,  will  be  found  to  inspire  new  ideas  of 
magnitude  when  attempted  to  be  travelled  to  the  top.  From  the 
tops  of  many  of  them  I  have  sketched  for  the  information  of  the 
world,  and  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  travel  much,  I  would  recom¬ 
mend  a  trip  to  the  summit  of  “  Pike’s  Tent  ”  (the  highest  bluff  on 
the  river),  100  miles  above  Prairie  du  Chien  ;  to  the  top  also  of  “La 
Montaigne  qui  tromps  a  l’eau  ” — the  summit  of  Bad  Axe  Mountain 
— and  a  look  over  Lake  Pepin’s  turretted  shores  from  the  top  of  the 
bluff  opposite  to  the  “  Lover’s  Leap,”  being  the  highest  on  the  lake, 
and  the  point  from  which  the  greater  part  of  its  shores  can  be  seen. 

Along  the  shores  of  this  beautiful  lake  we  lingered  for  several 
days,  and  our  canoe  was  hauled  a  hundred  times  upon  the  pebbly 
beach,  where  we  spent  hours  and  days,  robbing  it  of  its  precious 
gems,  which  are  thrown  up  by  the  waves.  We  found  many  rich 
agates,  carnelians,  jaspers,  and  porphyrys.  The  agates  are  many  of 
them  peculiarly  beautiful,  most  of  them  water- waved — their  colours 
brilliant  and  beautifully  striated.  “  Point  aux  Sables  ”  has  been 
considered  the  most  productive  part  of  the  lake  for  these  gems ;  but 
owing  to  the  frequent  landings  of  the  steam-boats  and  other  craft 
on  that  point,  the  best  specimens  of  them  have  been  picked  up  ;  and 
the  traveller  will  now  be  best  remunerated  for  his  trouble,  by  tracing 
the  shore  around  into  some  of  its  coves,  or  on  some  of  its  points  less 
frequented  by  the  footsteps  of  man. 

The  Lover's  Leap  (Fig.  248),  is  a  bold  and  projecting  rock,  of  six 
or  seven  hundred  feet  elevation  on  the  east  side  of  the  lake,  from 
the  summit  of  which,  it  is  said,  a  beautiful  Indian  girl,  the  daughter 
of  a  chief,  threw  herself  off  in  presence  of  her  tribe,  some  fifty  years 
ago,  and  dashed  herself  to  pieces,  to  avoid  being  married  to  a  man 
whom  her  father  had  decided  to  be  her  husband,  and  whom  she 


l'W 


2  4  8 


2  4  fit 


G  CoMjsi 


m 


250 


(r.  (jUflui, 


163 

would  not  marry.  On  our  way,  after  we  had  left  the  beautiful 
shores  of  Lake  Pepin,  we  passed  the  magnificent  bluff  called  “  Pike’s 
Tent”  (Fig.  249),  and  undoubtedly,  the  highest  eminence  on  the 
river,  running  up  in  the  form  of  a  tent ;  from  which  circumstance, 
and  that  of  having  first  been  ascended  by  Lieutenant  Pike,  it  has 
taken  the  name  of  Pike’s  Tent,  which  it  will,  doubtless,  for  ever 
retain. 

The  corporal  and  I  ran  our  little  craft  to  the  base  of  this  stupen¬ 
dous  pyramid,  and  spent  half  a  day  about  its  sides  and  its  pinnacle, 
admiring  the  lovely  and  almost  boundless  landscape  that  lies  beneath 
it. 

To  the  top  of  this  grass-covered  mound  I  would  advise  every 
traveller  in  the  country,  who  has  the  leisure  to  do  it,  and  sinew 
enough  in  his  leg,  to  stroll  awhile,  and  enjoy  what  it  may  be  difficult 
for  him  to  see  elsewhere. 

“  Cap  au  Vail”  (Garlic  Cape,  Fig.  250),  about  twenty  miles  above 
Prairie  du  Chien  is  another  beautiful  scene — and  the  “Cornice 
Bock”  (Fig.  251),  on  the  west  bank,  where  my  little  bark  rested 
two  days,  till  the  corporal  and  I  had  taken  bass  from  every  nook 
and  eddy  about  them,  where  our  hooks  could  be  dipped.  To  the 
lover  of  fine  fish,  and  fine  sport  in  fishing,  I  would  recommend  an 
encampment  for  a  few  days  on  this  picturesque  ledge,  where  his 
appetite  and  his  passion  will  be  soon  gratified. 

Besides  these  picturesque  scenes,  I  made  drawings  also  of  all 
the  Indian  villages  on  the  way,  and  of  many  other  interesting  points, 
which  are  curious  in  my  Collection,  but  too  numerous  to  introduce 
in  this  place. 

In  the  midst,  or  half-way  of  Lake  Pepin,  which  is  an  expansion 
of  the  river  of  four  or  five  miles  in  width,  and  twenty-five  miles  in 
length,  the  corporal  and  I  hauled  our  canoe  out  upon  the  beach  of 
Point  aux  Sables,  where  we  spent  a  couple  of  days,  feasting  on  plums 
and  fine  fish  and  wild  fowl,  and  filling  our  pockets  with  agates  and 
carnelians  we  were  picking  up  along  the  pebbly  beach ;  and  at  last, 
started  on  our  way  for  the  outlet  of  the  lake,  with  a  fair  north¬ 
west  wind,  which  wafted  us  along  in  a  delightful  manner,  as  I  sat 
in  the  stern  and  steered,  while  the  corporal  was  “catching  the 
breeze  ”  in  a  large  umbrella,  which  he  spread  open  and  held  in  the 
bow.  We  went  merrily  and  exultingly  on  in  this  manner,  until  at 
length  the  wind  increased  to  anything  but  a  gale;  and  the  waves 
were  foaming  white,  and  dashing  on  the  shores  where  we  could  not 
land  without  our  frail  bark  being  broken  to  pieces.  We  soon  became 
alarmed,  and  saw  that  our  only  safety  was  in  keeping  on  the  course 


164 


that  we  were  running  at  a  rapid  rate,  and  that  with  our  sail  full  set, 
to  brace  up  and  steady  our  boat  on  the  waves,  while  we  kept  within 
swimming  distance  of  the  shore,  resolved  to  run  into  the  first  cove, 
or  around  the  first  point  we  could  find  for  our  protection.  We  kept 
at  an  equal  distance  from  the  shore — and  in  this  most  critical  con¬ 
dition,  the  wind  drove  us  ten  or  fifteen  miles,  without  a  landing-place, 
till  we  exultingly  steered  into  the  mouth  of  the  Chippeway  river,  at 
the  outlet  of  the  lake,  where  we  soon  found  quiet  and  safety ;  but 
found  our  canoe  in  a  sinking  condition,  being  half  full  of  water,  and 
having  three  of  the  five  of  her  beams  or  braces  broken  out,  with 
which  serious  disasters,  a  few  rods  more  of  the  fuss  and  confusion 
would  have  sent  us  to  the  bottom.  We  here  lay  by  part  of  a  day, 
and  having  repaired  our  disasters,  wended  our  way  again  pleasantly 
and  successfully  on. 

At  Prairie  du  Chien,  which  is  near  the  mouth  of  the  Ouisconsin 
river,  and  600  miles  above  St  Louis,  where  we  safely  landed  my 
canoe,  I  found  my  wife  enjoying  the  hospitality  of  Mrs  Judge 
Lockwood,  who  had  been  a  schoolmate  of  mine  in  our  childhood,  and 
is  now  residing  with  her  interesting  family  in  that  place.  Under 
her  hospitable  roof  we  spent  a  few  weeks  with  great  satisfaction, 
after  which  my  wife  took  steamer  for  Dubuque,  and  I  took  to  my 
little  bark  canoe  alone  (having  taken  leave  of  the  corporal),  which  I 
paddled  to  this  place,  quite  leisurely — cooking  my  own  meat,  and 
having  my  own  fun  as  I  passed  along. 

Prairie  du  Chien  (Fig.  253)  has  been  one  of  the  earliest  and 
principal  trading  posts  of  the  Fur  Company,  and  they  now  have  a 
large  establishment  at  that  place ;  but  doing  far  less  business  than 
formerly,  owing  to  the  great  mortality  of  the  Indians  in  its  vicinity, 
and  the  destruction  of  the  game,  which  has  almost  entirely  dis¬ 
appeared  in  these  regions.  The  prairie  is  a  beautiful  elevation  above 
the  river,  of  several  miles  in  length,  and  a  mile  or  so  in  width,  with  a 
most  picturesque  range  of  grassy  bluffs  encompassing  it  in  the  rear. 
The  Government  have  erected  there  a  substantial  Fort,  in  which  are 
generally  stationed  three  or  four  companies  of  men,  for  the  purpose 
(as  at  the  Fall  of  St  Anthony)  of  keeping  the  peace  amongst  the 
hostile  tribes,  and  also  of  protecting  the  frontier  inhabitants  from 
the  attacks  of  the  excited  savages.  There  are  on  the  prairie  some 
forty  or  fifty  families,  mostly  French,  and  some  half-breeds,  whose 
lives  have  been  chiefly  spent  in  the  arduous  and  hazardous  occupations 
of  trappers,  and  traders,  and  voyageurs;  which  has  well  qualified 
them  for  the  modes  of  dealing  with  Indians,  where  they  have  settled 
down  and  stand  ready  to  compete  with  one  another  for  their  shares 


1^6 


165 


of  annuities,  etc.,  which  are  dealt  out  to  the  different  tribes  who 
concentrate  at  that  place,  and  are  easily  drawn  from  the  poor  Indians’ 
hands  by  whiskey  and  useless  gew-gaws. 

The  consequence  of  this  system  is,  that  there  is  about  that  place, 
almost  one  continual  scene  of  wretchedness,  and  drunkenness,  and 
disease  amongst  the  Indians,  who  come  there  to  trade  and  to  receive 
their  annuities,  that  disgusts  and  sickens  the  heart  of  every  stranger 
that  extends  his  travels  to  it. 

When  I  was  there,  Wa-be-sha’s  band  of  the  Sioux  came  there, 
and  remained  several  weeks  to  get  their  annuities,  which,  when  they 
received  them,  fell  (as  they  always  will  do),  far  short  of  paying  oft 
the  account,  which  the  Traders  take  good  care  to  have  standing 
against  them  for  goods  furnished  them  on  a  year’s  credit.  However, 
whether  they  pay  off  or  not,  they  can  always  get  whiskey  enough  for 
a  grand  carouse  and  a  brawl,  which  lasts  for  a  week  or  two,  and 
almost  sure  to  terminate  the  lives  of  some  of  their  numbers. 

At  the  end  of  one  of  these  a  few  days  since,  after  the  men  had 
enjoyed  their  surfeit  of  whiskey,  and  wanted  a  little  more  amusement, 
and  felt  disposed  to  indulge  the  weaker  sex  in  a  little  recreation  also ; 
it  was  announced  amongst  them,  and  through  the  village,  that  the 
women  were  going  to  have  a  ball-play  ! 

For  this  purpose  the  men,  in  their  very  liberal  trades  they  were 
making,  and  filling  their  canoes  with  goods  delivered  to  them  on  a 
year’s  credit,  laid  out  a  great  quantity  of  ribbons  and  calicoes,  with 
other  presents  well  adapted  to  the  wants  and  desires  of  the  women; 
which  were  hung  on  a  pole  resting  on  crotches,  and  guarded  by  an 
old  man,  who  was  to  be  judge  and  umpire  of  the  play  which  was  to 
take  place  amongst  the  women,  who  were  divided  into  two  equal 
parties,  and  were  to  play  a  desperate  game  of  ball,  for  the  valuable 
stakes  that  were  hanging  before  them  (Fig.  252). 

In  the  ball-play  of  the  women,  they  have  two  balls  attached  to 
the  ends  of  a  string,  about  a  foot  and  a  half  long ;  and  each  woman 
has  a  short  stick  in  each  hand,  on  which  she  catches  the  string  with 
the  two  balls,  and  throws  them,  endeavouring  to  force  them  over  the 
goal  of  her  own  party.  The  men  are  more  than  half  drunk,  wheD 
they  feel  liberal  enough  to  indulge  the  women  in  such  an  amuse¬ 
ment  ;  and  take  infinite  pleasure  in  rolling  about  on  the  ground  and 
laughing  to  excess,  whilst  the  women  are  tumbling  about  in  all 
attitudes,  and  scuffling  for  the  ball.  The  game  of  “  hunt  the  slipper 
even,  loses  its  zest  after  witnessing  one  of  these,  which  sometimes 
last  for  hours  together;  and  often  exhibits  the  hottest  contest  for 
the  balls,  exactly  over  the  heads  of  the  men ;  who,  half  from  whiskey, 


166 


and  half  from  inclination,  are  lying  in  groups  and  flat  upon  the 
ground. 

Prairie  du  Chien  is  the  concentrating  place  of  the  Winnebagoes 
and  Menomonies,  who  inhabit  the  waters  of  the  Ouisconsin  and  Fox 
Pavers,  and  the  chief  part  of  the  country  lying  east  of  the  Mississippi, 
and  west  of  Green  Bay. 

The  Winnebagoes  are  the  remnant  of  a  once  powerful  and  war¬ 
like  tribe,  but  are  now  left  in  a  country  where  they  have  neither 
beasts  or  men  to  war  with ;  and  are  in  a  most  miserable  and  im¬ 
poverished  condition.  The  numbers  of  this  tribe  do  not  exceed  four 
thousand;  and  the  most  of  them  have  sold  even  their  guns  and 
ammunition  for  whiskey.  Like  the  Sioux  and  Menomonies  that 
come  in  to  this  post,  they  have  several  times  suffered  severely  with 
the  small-pox,  which  has  in  fact  destroyed  the  greater  proportion 
of  them. 

In  Fig.  254,  will  be  seen  the  portrait  of  an  old  chief,  who  died  a 
few  years  since ;  and  who  was  for  many  years  the  head-chief  of  the 
tribe,  by  the  name  of  Naw-kaw  (wood).  This  man  has  been  much 
distinguished  in  his  time,  for  his  eloquence  ;  and  he  desired  me  to 
paint  him  in  the  attitude  of  an  orator,  addressing  his  people. 

Fig.  255,  is  a  distinguished  man  of  the  Winnebago  tribe,  by  the 
name  of  Wah-chee-hahs-ka  (the  man  who  puts  all  out  of  doors), 
commonly  called  the  “  boxer.”  The  largest  man  of  the  tribe,  with 
rattle-snake’s  skins  on  his  arms,  and  his  war-club  in  his  hand.* 

In  Fig.  256  is  seen  a  warrior,  Kaw-kaw-ne-choo-a ;  and  in  Fig. 
257  another,  Wa-kon-zee-kaw  (the  snake),  both  at  full  length;  and 
fair  specimens  of  the  tribe,  who  are  generally  a  rather  short  and 
thick-set,  square-shouldered  set  of  men,  of  great  strength,  and  of 
decided  character  as  brave  and  desperate  in  war. 

Besides  the  chief  and  warrior  above-named,  I  painted  the  portraits 
of  Won-de-tow-a  (the  wonder),  Wa-kon-chash-kaw  (he  who  comes  on 
the  thunder),  Nau-naw-pay-ee  (the  soldier),  Span-e-o-nee-kaw  (the 
Spaniard),  Hoo-wan-ee-kaw  (the  little  elk),  No-ah-choo-she-kaw  (he 
who  breaks  the  bushes),  and  Naugh-haigh-ke-kaw  (he  who  moistens 
the  wood),  all  distinguished  men  of  the  tribe  ;  and  all  at  full  length, 
as  they  will  be  seen  standing  in  my  Collection. 

*  This  man  died  of  the  small-pox  the  next  summer  after  this  portrait  was  painted. 
Whilst  the  small-pox  was  raging  so  bad  at  the  Prairie,  he  took  the  disease,  and  in  a 
rage  plunged  into  the  river,  and  swam  across  to  the  island  where  he  dragged  his 
body  out  upon  the  beach,  and  there  died,  and  his  bones  were  picked  by  dogs,  with¬ 
out  any  friend  to  give  him  burial. 


I'M 


C-" 

‘vO 

CM 


~M6 


258  259 


260  261 

G.  CtUtiri.. 


167 


THE  MENOMONIES, 

Like  the  Winnebagoes,  are  the  remnant  of  a  much  more  numerous 
and  independent  tribe,  but  have  been  reduced  and  enervated  by  the 
use  of  whiskey  and  the  ravages  of  the  small-pox,  and  number  at  this 
time,  something  like  three  thousand,  living  chiefly  on  the  banks  of 
Fox  Paver,  and  the  western  shore  of  Green  Bay.  They  visit  Prairie 
du  Chien,  where  their  annuities  are  paid  them ;  and  they  indulge  in 
the  bane,  like  the  tribes  that  I  have  mentioned. 

Of  this  tribe,  I  have  painted  quite  a  number  of  their  leading 
characters,  and  at  the  head  of  them  all,  Mah-kee-me-teuv  (the  grizzly 
bear,  Fig.  258),  with  a  handsome  pipe  in  his  hand;  and  by  the  side 
of  him  his  wife  Me-chcet-e-ncuh  (the  wounded  bear’s  shoulder,  Fig.  259). 
Both  of  these  have  died  since  their  portraits  were  painted.  This 
dignified  chief  led  a  delegation  of  fifteen  of  his  people  to  Washington 
City,  some  years  since,  and  there  commanded  great  respect  for  his 
eloquence,  and  dignity  of  deportment. 

In  Fig.  260  is  the  portrait  of  Chec-me-na-na-quct  (the  great 
cloud),  son  of  the  chief — an  ill-natured  and  insolent  fellow  who  has 
since  been  killed  for  some  of  his  murderous  deeds.  Fig.  261,  is  the 
portrait  of  a  fine  boy,  whose  name  is  Tcha-kauks-o-ko-maugh  (the 
great  chief).  This  tribe  living  out  of  the  reach  of  buffaloes,  cover 
themselves  with  blankets,  instead  of  robes,  and  wear  a  profusion  of 
beads  and  wampum,  and  other  trinkets. 

In  Fig.  262,  is  Coo-coo-coo  (the  owl),  a  very  aged  and  emaci¬ 
ated  chief,  whom  I  painted  at  Green  Bay,  in  Fort  Howard.  He 
had  been  a  distinguished  man,  but  now  in  his  dotage,  being  more 
than  100  years  old — and  a  great  pet  of  the  surgeon  and  officers  of 
the  post. 

In  Fig.  263,  are  two  Menominee  youths  at  full  length,  in  beautiful 
dresses,  whose  names  I  did  not  get — one  with  his  war-club  in  his 
hand,  and  the  other  blowing  on  his  “  courting  flute,”  which  I  have 
before  described. 

In  addition  to  these  I  have  painted  of  this  tribe,  and  placed  in 
my  Collection,  the  portraits  of  Ko-man-i-kin-o-shaw  (the  little  whale) ; 
Sha-wa-no  (the  south) ;  Masli-kee-wet  (the  thought) ;  Pah-shee-nau-shaw 

( - );  Au-nah-quct-o-haii-pay-o  (the  one  sitting  in  the  clouds); 

Axih-ka-na-paw-wah  (earth  standing) ;  Ko-man-ni-kin  (the  big  wave) ; 
O-ho-joa-sha  (the  small  whoop)  ;  Au-wah-shew-kew  (the  female  bear) ; 
and  Chesk-ko-tong  (he  who  sings  the  war-song). 

It  will  be  seen  by  the  reader,  from  the  above  facts,  that  I  have 
been  laying  up  much  curious  and  valuable  record  of  people  and 


168 


customs  in  these  regions ;  and  it  will  be  seen  at  the  same  time,  from 
the  brief  manner  in  which  I  have  treated  of  these  semi-civilised 
tribes,  which  everybody  can  see,  and  thousands  have  seen,  that  my 
enthusiasm,  as  I  have  before  explained,  has  led  me  more  into  minute¬ 
ness  and  detail  amongst  those  tribes  which  are  living  in  their 
unchanged  native  modes,  whose  customs  I  have  been  ambitious  to 
preserve  for  ages  to  come,  before  the  changes  that  civilised  acquaint¬ 
ance  will  soon  work  upon  them. 

The  materials  which  I  am  daily  gathering,  however,  are  interesting; 
and  I  may  on  a  future  occasion  use  them — but  in  an  epistle  of  this 
kind,  there  is  not  room  for  the  incidents  of  a  long  voyage,  or  for  a 
minute  description  of  the  country  and  the  people  in  it ;  so  what  I 
have  said  must  suffice  for  the  present.  I  lingered  along  the  shores 
of  this  magnificent  river  then,  in  my  fragile  bark,  to  Prairie  du  Chien 
— Dubuque — Galena,  to  Eock  Island,  and  lastly  to  this  place. 

During  such  a  Tour  between  the  almost  endless  banks,  carpeted 
with  green,  with  one  of  the  richest  countries  in  the  world,  extending 
back  in  every  direction,  the  mind  of  a  contemplative  man  is  con¬ 
tinually  building  for  posterity  splendid  seats,  cities,  towers,  and 
villas,  which  a  few  years  of  rolling  time  will  bring  about,  with  new 
institutions,  new  states,  and  almost  empires  ;  for  it  would  seem  that 
this  vast  region  of  rich  soil  and  green  fields,  was  almost  enough  for 
a  world  of  itself. 

I  hauled  my  canoe  out  of  the  water  at  Dubuque,  where  I  joined 
my  wife  again  in  the  society  of  kind  and  hospitable  friends,  and 
found  myself  amply  repaid  for  a  couple  of  weeks’  time  spent  in  the 
examination  of  the  extensive  lead  mines ;  walking  and  creeping 
through  caverns,  some  eighty  or  one  hundred  feet  below  the 
earth’s  surface,  decked  in  nature’s  pure  livery  of  stalactites  and  spar 
-—with  walls,  and  sometimes  ceilings,  of  glistening  massive  lead.. 
And  I  hold  yet  (and  ever  shall)  in  my  mind,  without  loss  of  a  fraction 
of  feature  or  expression,  the  image  of  one  of  my  companions,  and 
the  scene  that  at  one  time  was  about  him.  His  name  is  Jeffries. 
We  were  in  “Lockwood’s  Cave,”  my  wife  and  another  lady  were 
behind,  and  he  advancing  before  me;  Ms  ribs,  more  elastic  than 
mine,  gave  him  entrance  through  a  crevice,  into  a  chamber  yet 
unexplored ;  he  dared  the  pool,  for  there  was  one  of  icy  water,  and 
translucent  as  the  air  itself.  We  stood  luckless  spectators  to  gaze 
and  envy,  while  he  advanced.  The  lighted  flambeau  in  his  hand 
brought  the  splendid  furniture  of  this  tesselated  palace  into  view;, 
the  surface  of  the  jostled  pool  laved  his  sides  as  he  advanced,  and 
the  rich  stalagmites  that  grew  up  from  the  bottom  reflected  a  golden. 


169 


light  through  the  water,  while  the  walls  and  ceiling  were  hung  with 
stalactites  which  glittered  like  diamonds. 

In  this  wise  he  stood  in  silent  gaze,  in  awe  and  admiration  of  the 
hidden  works  of  Nature;  his  figure,  as  high  as  the  surface  of  the 
water,  was  magnified  into  a  giant — and  his  head  and  shoulders  not 
unfit  for  a  cyclop.  In  fact,  he  was  a  perfect  figure  of  Yulcan.  The 
water  in  which  he  stood  was  a  lake  of  liquid  fire — he  held  a  huge 
hammer  in  his  right  hand,  and  a  flaming  thunderbolt  in  his  left, 
which  he  had  just  forged  for  Jupiter.  There  was  but  one  thing  want¬ 
ing,  it  was  the  “  sound  of  the  hammer !  ”  which  was  soon  given  in  peals 
upon  the  beautiful  pendents  of  stalactite  and  spar,  which  sent  back 
and  through  the  cavern,  the  hollow  tones  of  thunder. 

A  visit  of  a  few  days  to  Dubuque  will  be  worth  the  while  of 
every  traveller;  and  for  the  speculator  and  man  of  enterprise,  it 
affords  the  finest  field  now  open  in  our  country.  It  is  a  small  town 
of  200  houses,  built  entirely  within  the  last  two  years,  on  one  of  the 
most  delightful  sites  on  the  river,  and  in  the  heart  of  the  richest  and 
most  productive  parts  of  the  mining  region ;  having  this  advantage 
over  most  other  mining  countries,  that  immediately  over  the  richest 
(and  in  fact  all)  of  the  lead  mines ;  the  land  on  the  surface  produces 
the  finest  corn,  and  all  other  vegetables  that  may  be  put  into  it.  This 
is  certainly  the  richest  section  of  country  on  the  Continent,  and  those 
who  live  a  few  years  to  witness  the  result,  will  be  ready  to  sanction 
my  assertion,  that  it  is  to  be  the  mint  of  our  country. 

From  Dubuque,  I  descended  the  river  on  a  steamer,  with  my  bark 
canoe  laid  on  its  deck,  and  my  wife  was  my  companion,  to  Camp  Des 
Moines,  from  whence  I  am  now  writing. 

After  arriving  at  this  place,  which  is  the  wintering  post  of  Colonel 
Kearney,  with  his  three  companies  of  dragoons,  I  seated  my  wife  and 
two  gentlemen  of  my  intimate  acquaintance,  in  my  bark  canoe,  and 
paddled  them  through  the  Des  Moine’s  Kapids,  a  distance  of  fourteen 
miles,  which  we  performed  in  a  very  short  time  ;  and  at  the  foot  of 
the  Kapids,  placed  my  wife  on  the  steamer  for  St  Louis,  in  company 
with  friends,  when  I  had  some  weeks  to  return  on  my  track,  and 
revert  back  again  to  the  wild  and  romantic  life  that  I  occasionally 
love  to  lead.  I  returned  to  Camp  Des  Moines,  and  in  a  few  days 
joined  General  Street,  the  Indian  Agent,  in  a  Tour  to  Ke-o-kuck’s 
village  of  Sacs  and  Foxes. 

Colonel  Kearney  gave  us  a  corporal’s  command  of  eight  men,  with 
horses,  etc.,  for  the  journey ;  and  we  reached  the  village  in  two  days’ 
travel,  about  sixty  miles  up  the  Des  Moines.  The  whole  country 
that  we  passed  over  was  like  a  garden,  wanting  only  cultivation, 

L* 


170 


being  mostly  prairie,  and  we  found  their  village  beautifully  situated 
on  a  large  prairie,  on  the  bank  of  the  Des  Moines  Paver.  They 
seemed  to  be  well  supplied  with  the  necessaries  of  life,  and  with 
some  of  its  luxuries.  I  found  Ke-o-kuck  to  be  a  chief  of  fine  and 
portly  figure,  with  a  good  countenance,  and  great  dignity  and  grace 
in  his  manners. 

General  Street  had  some  documents  from  Washington,  to  read  to 
him,  which  he  and  his  chiefs  listened  to  with  great  patience ;  after 
which  he  placed  before  us  good  brandy  and  good  wine,  and  invited 
us  to  drink,  and  to  lodge  with  him ;  he  then  called  up  five  of  his 
runners  or  criers,  communicated  to  them  in  a  low,  but  emphatic  tone, 
the  substance  of  the  talk  from  the  agent,  and  of  the  letters  read  to 
him,  and  they  started  at  full  gallop — one  of  them  proclaiming  it 
through  his  village,  and  the  others  sent  express  to  the  other  villages, 
comprising  the  whole  nation.  Ke-o-kuck  came  in  with  us,  with  about 
twenty  of  his  principal  men — he  brought  in  all  his  costly  wardrobe, 
that  I  might  select  for  his  portrait  such  as  suited  me  best ;  but  at 
once  named  (of  his  own  accord)  the  one  that  was  purely  Indian.  In 
that  he  paraded  for  several  days,  and  in  it  I  painted  him  at  full 
length.  He  is  a  man  of  a  great  deal  of  pride,  and  makes  truly  a 
splendid  appearance  on  his  black  horse.  He  owns  the  finest  horse 
in  the  country,  and  is  excessively  vain  of  his  appearance  when 
mounted,  and  arrayed,  himself  and  horse,  in  all  their  gear  and  trap¬ 
pings.  He  expressed  a  wish  to  see  himself  represented  on  horseback, 
and  I  painted  him  in  that  plight.  He  rode  and  nettled  his  prancing 
steed  in  front  of  my  door,  until  its  sides  were  in  a  gore  of  blood.  I 
succeeded  to  Ms  satisfaction,  and  his  vanity  is  increased,  no  doubt, 
by  seeing  himself  immortalised  in  that  way.  After  finishing  him,  I 
painted  his  favourite  wife  (the  favoured  one  of  seven),  his  favourite 
boy,  and  eight  or  ten  of  his  principal  men  and  women ;  after  which, 
he  and  all  his  men  shook  hands  with  me,  wishing  me  well,  and  leav¬ 
ing,  as  tokens  of  regard,  the  most  valued  article  of  his  dress,  and  a 
beautiful  string  of  wampum,  which  he  took  from  his  wife’s  neck. 

They  then  departed  for  their  village  in  good  spirits,  to  prepare 
for  their  full  hunt. 

Of  this  interesting  interview  and  its  incidents,  and  of  these  people, 
I  shall  soon  give  the  reader  a  further  account,  and  therefore  close  my 
note-book  for  the  present.  Adieu. 


LETTER — No.  53 


ST  LOUIS 

It  will  be  seen  by  the  heading  of  this  Letter  that  I  am  back  again  to 
“  head-quarters,”  where  I  have  joined  my  wife,  and  being  seated  down 
by  a  comfortable  fire,  am  to  take  a  little  retrospect  of  my  rambles, 
from  the  time  of  my  last  epistle. 

The  return  to  the  society  of  old  friends  again,  has  been  delightful, 
and  amongst  those  whom  I  more  than  esteem,  I  have  met  my  kind  and 
faithful  friend  Joe  Chadwick,  whom  I  have  often  mentioned,  as  my 
companion  in  distress  whilst  on  that  disastrous  campaign  amongst 
the  Camanchees.  Joe  and  I  have  taken  great  pleasure  in  talking 
over  the  many  curious  scenes  we  have  passed  together,  many  of 
which  are  as  yet  unknown  to  others  than  ourselves.  We  had  been 
separated  for  nearly  two  years,  and  during  that  time  I  had  passed 
many  curious  scenes  worthy  of  Joe’s  knowing,  and  while  he  sat  down 
in  the  chair  for  a  portrait  I  painted  of  him  to  send  to  his  mother,  on 
leaving  the  States,  to  take  an  appointment  from  Governor  Houston 
in  the  Texan  army ;  I  related  to  him  one  or  two  of  my  recent  inci¬ 
dents,  which  were  as  follow,  and  pleased  Joe  exceedingly : — 

“  After  I  had  paddled  my  bark  canoe  through  the  rapids,  with  my 
wife  and  others  in  it,  as  I  mentioned,  and  had  put  them  on  board  a 
steamer  for  St  Louis,  I  dragged  my  canoe  up  the  east  shore  of  the 
rapids,  with  a  line,  for  a  distance  of  four  miles,  when  I  stopped  and 
spent  half  of  the  day  in  collecting  some  very  interesting  minerals, 
which  I  had  in  the  bottom  of  my  canoe,  and  ready  to  get  on  the  first 
steamer  passing  up,  to  take  me  again  to  Camp  Des  Moines,  at  the 
head  of  the  rapids. 

“  I  was  sitting  on  a  wild  and  wooded  shore,  and  waiting,  when  I 
at  length  discovered  a  steamer  several  miles  below  me,  advancing 
through  the  rapids,  and  in  the  interim  I  set  to  and  cleaned  my 
fowling-piece  and  a  noble  pair  of  pistols,  which  I  had  carried  in  a 
belt  at  my  side,  through  my  buffalo  and  other  sports  of  the  West, 
and  having  put  them  in  fine  order  and  deposited  them  in  the 
bottom  of  the  canoe  before  me,  and  taken  my  paddle  in  hand,  with 
which  my  long  practice  had  given  me  unlimited  confidence,  I  put  off 
from  the  shore  to  the  middle  of  the  river,  which  was  there  a  mile 

171 


172 


and  a  half  in  width,  to  meet  the  steamer,  which  was  stemming  the 
opposing  torrent,  and  slowly  moving  up  the  rapids.  I  made  my 
signal  as  I  neared  the  steamer,  and  desired  my  old  friend  Captain 
Eogers,  not  to  stop  his  engine ;  feeling  full  confidence  that  I  could, 
with  an  Indian  touch  of  the  paddle,  toss  my  little  bark  around,  and 
gently  grapple  to  the  side  of  the  steamer,  which  was  loaded  down, 
with  her  gunnels  near  to  the  water’s  edge.  Oh,  that  my  skill  had 
been  equal  to  my  imagination,  or  that  I  could  have  had  at  that 
moment  the  balance  and  the  skill  of  an  Indian  woman,  for  the  sake 
of  my  little  craft  and  what  was  in  it !  I  had  brought  it  about,  with  a 
master  hand,  however,  but  the  waves  of  the  rapids  and  the  foaming 
of  the  waters  by  her  sides  were  too  much  for  my  peaceable  adhesion, 
and  at  the  moment  of  wheeling,  to  part  company  with  her,  a  line, 
with  a  sort  of  ‘  lasso  throw,’  came  from  an  awkward  hand  on  the 
deck,  and  falling  over  my  shoulder  and  around  the  end  of  my  canoe, 
with  a  simultaneous  ‘haul’  to  it,  sent  me  down  head  foremost  to 
the  bottom  of  the  river ;  where  I  was  tumbling  along  with  the  rapid 
current  over  the  huge  rocks  on  the  bottom,  whilst  my  gun  and 
pistols,  which  were  emptied  from  my  capsized  boat,  were  taking  their 
permanent  position  amongst  the  rocks  ;  and  my  trunk,  containing 
my  notes  oE  travel  for  several  years,  and  many  other  valuable  things, 
was  floating  off  upon  the  surface.  If  I  had  drowned,  my  death  would 
have  been  witnessed  by  at  least  a  hundred  ladies  and  gentlemen 
who  were  looking  on,  but  I  did  not. — I  soon  took  a  peep,  by  the  side 
of  my  trunk,  etc.,  above  the  water,  and  for  the  first  time  in  my  life 
was  ‘collared,’  and  that  by  my  friend  Captain  Eogers,  who  un¬ 
doubtedly  saved  me  from  making  further  explorations  on  the  river 
bottom,  by  pulling  me  into  the  boat,  to  the  amusement  of  all  on 
deck,  many  of  whom  were  my  old  acquaintance,  and  not  knowing  the 
preliminaries,  were  as  much  astounded  at  my  sudden  appearance,  as 
if  I  had  been  disgorged  from  a  whale’s  belly.  A  small  boat  was  sent 
off  for  my  trunk,  which  was  picked  up  about  half  a  mile  below  and 
brought  on  board  full  of  water,  and  consequently,  clothes,  and  sketch¬ 
books  and  everything  else  entirely  wet  through.  My  canoe  was 
brought  on  board,  which  was  several  degrees  dearer  to  me  now  than 
it  had  been  for  its  long  and  faithful  service ;  but  my  gun  and  pistols 
are  there  yet,  and  at  the  service  of  the  lucky  one  who  may  find  them. 
I  remained  on  board  for  several  miles,  till  we  were  passing  a  wild  and 
romantic  rocky  shore,  on  which  the  sun  was  shining  warm,  and  I 
launched  my  little  boat  into  the  water,  with  my  trunk  in  it,  and  put 
off  to  the  shore,  where  I  soon  had  every  paper  and  a  hundred 
other  things  spread  in  the  sun,  and  at  night  in  good  order  for  my 


173 


camp,  whicli  was  at  the  mouth  of  a  quiet  little  brook,  where  I  caught 
some  fine  bass  and  fared  well,  till  a  couple  of  hours  paddling  the  next 
morning  brought  me  back  to  Camp  Des  Moines.” 

Here  my  friend  Joe  laughed  excessively,  but  said  not  a  word,  as  I 
kept  on  painting — and  told  him  also,  that  a  few  days  after  this,  I 
put  my  little  canoe  on  the  deck  of  a  steamer  ascending  the  river,  and 
landed  at  Eock  Island,  ninety  miles  above,  on  some  business  with 
General  Street,  the  Indian  Agent — after  which  I  “put  off”  in  my 
little  bark,  descending  the  river  alone,  to  Camp  Des  Moines,  with  a 
fine  double-barrelled  fowling-piece,  which  I  had  purchased  at  the 
garrison,  lying  in  the  canoe  before  me  as  the  means  of  procuring  wild 
fowl,  and  other  food  on  my  passage.  “  Egad  !  ”  said  J oe,  “  how  I 
should  like  to  have  been  with  you  !  ”  “  Sit  still,”  said  I,  “  or  I  shall 

lose  your  likeness.”  So  Joe  kept  his  position  and  I  proceeded : 

“  I  left  Eock  Island  about  eleven  o’clock  in  the  morning,  and  at 
half-past  three  in  a  pleasant  afternoon,  in  the  cool  month  of  October, 
ran  my  canoe  to  the  shore  of  Mas-co-tin  Island,  where  I  stepped  out 
upon  its  beautiful  pebbly  beach,  with  my  paddle  in  my  hand,  having 
drawn  the  bow  of  my  canoe,  as  usual,  on  to  the  beach,  so  as  to  hold 
it  in  its  place.  This  beautiful  island,  so  called  from  a  band  of  the 
Illinois  Indians  of  that  name,  who  once  dwelt  upon  it,  is  twenty-five 
or  thirty  miles  in  length,  without  habitation  on  or  in  sight  of  it,  and 
the  whole  way  one  extended  and  lovely  prairie ;  with  high  banks 
fronting  the  river,  and  extending  back  a  great  way,  covered  with  a 
high  and  luxuriant  growth  of  grass.  To  the  top  of  this  bank  I  went 
with  my  paddle  in  my  hand,  quite  innocently,  just  to  range  my  eye 
over  its  surface,  and  to  see  what  might  be  seen ;  when,  in  a  minute 
or  two,  I  turned  towards  the  river,  and,  to  my  almost  annihilating 
surprise  and  vexation,  I  saw  my  little  canoe  some  twenty  or  thirty 
rods  from  the  shore,  and  some  distance  below  me,  with  its  head  aiming 
across  the  river,  and  steadily  gliding  along  in  that  direction,  where 
the  wind  was  roguishly  wafting  it !  What  little  swearing  I  had 
learned  in  the  whole  of  my  dealings  with  the  civilised  world,  seemed 
then  to  concentrate  in  two  or  three  involuntary  exclamations,  which 
exploded  as  I  was  running  down  the  beach,  and  throwing  off  my 
garments  one  after  the  other,  till  I  was  denuded — and  dashing  through 
the  deep  and  boiling  current  in  pursuit  of  it,  I  swam  some  thirty  rods 
in  a  desperate  rage,  resolving  that  this  must  he  my  remedy,  as  there 
was  no  other  mode ;  but  at  last  found,  to  my  great  mortification  and 
alarm,  that  the  canoe,  having  got  so  far  from  the  shore,  was  more  in 
the  wind,  and  travelling  at  a  speed  quite  equal  to  my  own ;  so  that 
the  only  safe  alternative  was  to  turn  and  make  for  the  shore  with  all 


174 


possible  despatch.  This  I  did — and  had  but  just  strength  to  bring 
me  where  my  feet  could  reach  the  bottom,  and  I  waded  out  with  the 
appalling  conviction,  that  if  I  had  swam  one  rod  farther  into  the 
stream,  my  strength  would  never  have  brought  me  to  the  shore ;  for 
it  was  in  the  fall  of  the  year,  and  the  water  so  cold  as  completely  to 
have  benumbed  me,  and  paralysed  my  limbs.  I  hastened  to  pick  up 
my  clothes,  which  were  dropped  at  intervals  as  I  had  run  on  the 
beach,  and  having  adjusted  them  on  my  shivering  limbs,  I  stepped  to 
the  top  of  the  bank,  and  took  a  deliberate  view  of  my  little  canoe, 
which  was  steadily  making  its  way  to  the  other  shore — with  my  gun, 
with  my  provisions  and  fire  apparatus,  and  sleeping  apparel,  all 
snugly  packed  in  it. 

“  The  river  at  that  place  is  near  a  mile  wide ;  and  I  watched  the 
mischievous  thing  till  it  ran  quite  into  a  bunch  of  willows  on  the 
opposite  shore,  and  out  of  sight.  I  walked  the  shore  awhile,  alone 
and  solitary  as  a  Zealand  penguin,  when  I  at  last  sat  down,  and 
in  one  minute  passed  the  following  resolves  from  premises  that  were 
before  me,  and  too  imperative  to  be  evaded  or  unappreciated.  1 1  am 
here  on  a  desolate  island,  with  nothing  to  eat,  and  destitute  of  the 
means  of  procuring  anything ;  and  if  I  pass  the  night,  or  half  a  dozen 
of  them  here,  I  shall  have  neither  fire  or  clothes  to  make  me  comfort¬ 
able  ;  and  nothing  short  of  having  my  canoe  will  answer  me  at  all.’ 
For  this,  the  only  alternative  struck  me,  and  I  soon  commenced  upon 
it.  An  occasional  log  or  limb  of  drift  wood  was  seen  along  the  beach 
and  under  the  bank,  and  these  I  commenced  bringing  together  from 
all  quarters,  and  some  I  had  to  lug  half  a  mile  or  more,  to  form 
a  raft  to  float  me  up  and  carry  me  across  the  river.  As  there  was  a 
great  scarcity  of  materials,  and  I  had  no  hatchet  to  cut  anything ;  I 
had  to  use  my  scanty  materials  of  all  lengths  and  of  all  sizes  and  all 
shapes,  and  at  length  ventured  upon  the  motley  mass,  with  paddle  in 
hand,  and  carefully  shoved  it  off  from  the  shore,  finding  it  just 
sufficient  to  float  me  up.  I  took  a  seat  in  its  centre  on  a  bunch  of 
barks  which  I  had  placed  for  a  seat,  and  which,  when  I  started,  kept 
me  a  few  inches  above  the  water,  and  consequently  dry,  whilst  my 
feet  were  resting  on  the  raft,  which  in  most  parts  was  sunk  a  little 
below  the  surface.  The  only  alternative  was  to  go,  for  there  was  no 
more  timber  to  be  found  ;  so  I  balanced  myself  in  the  middle,  and  by 
reaching  forward  with  my  paddle,  to  a  little  space  between  the 
timbers  of  my  raft,  I  had  a  small  place  to  dip  it,  and  the  only  one,  in 
which  I  could  make  but  a  feeble  stroke — propelling  me  at  a  very  slow 
rate  across,  as  I  was  floating  rapidly  down  the  current.  I  sat  still  and 
worked  patiently,  however,  content  with  the  little  gain ;  and  at  last 


175 


reached  the  opposite  shore  about  three  miles  below  the  place  of  my 
embarkation  ;  having  passed  close  by  several  huge  snags,  which  I  was 
lucky  enough  to  escape,  without  the  power  of  having  cleared  them 
except  by  kind  accident. 

“  My  craft  was  ‘  unseaworthy  ’  when  I  started,  and  when  I  had 
got  to  the  middle  of  the  river,  owing  to  the  rotten  wood,  with  which 
a  great  part  of  it  was  made,  and  which  had  now  become  saturated 
with  water,  it  had  sunk  entirely  under  the  surface,  letting  me  down 
nearly  to  the  waist,  in  the  water.  In  this  critical  way  I  moved 
slowly  along,  keeping  the  sticks  together  under  me  ;  and  at  last,  when 
I  reached  the  shore,  some  of  the  long  and  awkward  limbs  projecting 
from  my  raft,  having  reached  it  before  me,  and  being  suddenly 
resisted  by  the  bank,  gave  the  instant  signal  for  its  dissolution,  and 
my  sudden  debarkation,  when  I  gave  one  grand  leap  in  the  direction \ 
of  the  bank,  yet  some  yards  short  of  it,  and  into  the  water,  from  head 
to  foot ;  but  soon  crawled  out,  and  wended  my  way  a  mile  or  two  up 
the  shore,  where  I  found  my  canoe  snugly  and  safely  moored  in  the 
willows,  where  I  stepped  into  it,  and  paddled  back  to  the  island,  and 
to  the  same  spot  where  my  misfortunes  commenced,  to  enjoy  the 
pleasure  of  exultations,  which  were  to  flow  from  contrasting  my 
present  with  my  former  situation. 

“  Thus,  the  Island  of  Mas-co-tin  soon  lost  its  horrors,  and  I  strolled 
two  days  and  encamped  two  nights  upon  its  silent  shores — with  prairie 
hens  and  wild  fowl  in  abundance  for  my  meals.  From  this  lovely 
ground,  which  shows  the  peaceful  graves  of  hundreds  of  red  men,  who 
have  valued  it  before  me,  I  paddled  off  in  my  light  bark,  and  said,  as 
I  looked  back,  ‘  Sleep  there  in  peace,  ye  brave  fellows !  until  the 
sacrilegious  hands  of  white  man,  and  the  unsympathising  ploughshare 
shall  turn  thy  bones  from  their  quiet  and  beautiful  resting-place !  ’ 

“  Two  or  three  days  of  strolling,  brought  me  again  to  the  Camp 
Des  Moines,  and  from  thence  with  my  favourite  little  bark  canoe, 
placed  upon  the  deck  of  the  steamer,  I  embarked  for  St  Louis,  where 
I  arrived  in  good  order,  and  soon  found  the  way  to  the  comfortable 
quarters  from  whence  I  am  now  writing.” 

When  I  finished  telling  this  story  to  Joe,  his  portrait  was  done, 
and  I  rejoiced  to  find  that  I  had  given  to  it  all  the  fire  and  all  the 
game  look  that  had  become  so  familiar  and  pleasing  to  me  in  our 
numerous  rambles  in  the  far  distant  wilds  of  our  former  campaigns.* 

*  Poor  Chadwick !  a  few  days  after  the  above  occasion,  he  sent  his  portrait  to 
his  mother,  and  started  for  Texas,  where  he  joined  the  Texan  army,  with  a  com¬ 
mission  from  Governor  Plouston  ;  was  taken  prisoner  in  the  first  battle  that  he 
fought,  and  was  amongst  the  four  hundred  prisoners  who  were  shot  down  in  cold 
blood  by  the  order  of  Santa  Anna. 


176 


When  I  had  landed  from  the  steamer  Warrior,  at  the  wharf,  I 
left  all  other  considerations  to  hasten  and  report  myself  to  my 
dear  wife,  leaving  my  little  canoe  on  deck  and  in  the  especial  charge 
of  the  Captain,  till  I  should  return  for  it  in  the  afternoon,  and  remove 
it  to  safe  storage  with  my  other  Indian  articles,  to  form  an  interesting 
part  of  my  Museum.  On  my  return  to  the  steamer  it  was  “  missing’’ 
and  like  one  that  I  have  named  on  a  former  occasion,  by  some  medicine 
operation,  for  ever  severed  from  my  sight,  though  not  from  my  recollec¬ 
tions,  where  it  will  long  remain,  and  also  in  a  likeness  which  I  made 
of  it  (Fig.  240,  a),  just  after  the  trick  it  played  me  on  the  shore  of  the 
Mas-co-tin  Island. 

After  I  had  finished  the  likeness  of  my  friend  Joe,  and  had  told 
him  the  two  stories,  I  sat  down  and  wrote  thus  in  my  note-book,  and 
now  copy  it  into  my  Letter : — 

The  West — not  the  “Far  West,”  for  that  is  a  phantom,  travelling 
on  its  tireless  wing :  but  the  West,  the  simple  West — the  vast  and 
vacant  wilds  which  lie  between  the  trodden  haunts  of  present  savage 
and  civil  life — the  great  and  almost  boundless  garden-spot  of  earth ! 
This  is  the  theme  at  present.  The  “  antres  vast  and  deserts  idle,” 
where  the  tomahawk  sleeps  with  the  bones  of  the  savage,  as  yet 
untouched  by  the  trespassing  ploughshare  —  the  pictured  land  of 
silence,  which,  in  its  melancholy  alternately  echoes  backward  and 
forward  the  plaintive  yells  of  the  vanished  red  men,  and  the  busy 
chants  of  the  approaching'pioneers.  I  speak  of  the  boundless  plains 
of  beauty,  and  Nature’s  richest  livery,  where  the  waters  of  the  “  great 
deep”  parted  in  peace,  and  gracefully  passed  off  without  leaving 
deformity  behind  them.  Over  whose  green,  enamelled  fields,  as 
boundless  and  free  as  the  ocean’s  wave,  Nature’s  proudest,  noblest 
men  have  pranced  on  their  wild  horses,  and  extended,  through  a. 
series  of  ages,  their  long  arms  in  orisons  of  praise  and  gratitude  to 
the  Great  Spirit  in  the  sun,  for  the  freedom  and  happiness  of  their 
existence.  —  The  land  that  was  beautiful  and  famed,  but  had  no 
chronicler  to  tell  —  where,  while  “  civilised  ”  was  yet  in  embryo, 
dwelt  the  valiant  and  the  brave,  whose  deeds  of  chivalry  and  honour 
have  passed  away  like  themselves,  unembalmed  and  untold — where 
the  plumed  war-horse  has  pranced  in  time  with  the  shrill  sounding 
war-cry,  and  the  eagle  calumet  as  oft  sent  solemn  and  mutual  pledges 
in  fumes  to  the  skies.  I  speak  of  the  neutral  ground  (for  such  it  may 
be  called),  where  the  smoke  of  the  wigwam  is  no  longer  seen,  but  the 
bleaching  bones  of  the  buffaloes,  and  the  graves  of  the  savage,  tell 
the  story  of  times  and  days  that  are  passed — the  land  of  stillness,  on. 
which  the  red  man  now  occasionally  re-treads  in  sullen  contemplation,. 


177 


amid  the  graves  of  his  fathers,  and  over  which  civilised  man  advances, 
filled  with  joy  and  gladness. 

Such  is  the  great  valley  of  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri,  over 
almost  every  part  of  which  I  have  extended  my  travels,  and  of  which 
and  of  its  future  wealth  and  improvements,  I  have  had  sublime  con¬ 
templations. 

I  have  viewed  man  in  the  artless  and  innocent  simplicity  of  nature, 
in  the  full  enjoyment  of  the  luxuries  which  God  had  bestowed  upon 
him.  I  have  seen  him  happier  than  kings  or  princes  can  be ;  with 
his  pipe  and  little  ones  about  him.  I  have  seen  him  shrinking  from 
civilised  approach,  which  came  with  all  its  vices,  like  the  dead  of  night, 
upon  him :  I  have  seen  raised,  too,  in  that  darkness,  religion's  torch, 
and  seen  him  gaze  and  then  retreat  like  the  frightened  deer,  that  are 
blinded  by  the  light ;  I  have  seen  him  shrinking  from  the  soil  and 
haunts  of  his  boyhood,  bursting  the  strongest  ties  which  bound  him  to 
the  earth,  and  its  pleasures ;  I  have  seen  him  set  fire  to  his  wigwam, 
and  smooth  over  the  graves  of  his  fathers ;  I  have  seen  him  (’tis  the  only 
thing  that  will  bring  them)  with  tears  of  grief  sliding  over  his  cheeks, 
clap  his  hand  in  silence  over  his  mouth,  and  take  the  last  look  over 
his  fair  hunting-grounds,  and  turn  his  face  in  sadness  to  the  setting 
sun.  All  this  I  have  seen  performed  in  Nature’s  silent  dignity  and 
grace,  which  forsook  him  not  in  the  last  extremity  of  misfortune  and 
despair ;  and  I  have  seen  as  often,  the  approach  of  the  bustling,  busy, 
talking,  whistling,  hopping,  elated  and  exulting  white  man,  with  the 
first  dip  of  the  ploughshare,  making  sacrilegious  trespass  on  the  bones 
of  the  valiant  dead.  I  have  seen  the  skull,  the  pipe,  and  the  toma. 
hawk  rise  from  the  ground  together,  in  interrogations  which  the 
sophistry  of  the  world  can  never  answer.  I  have  have  seen  thus, 
in  all  its  forms  and  features,  the  grand  and  irresistible  march  of 
civilisation.  I  have  seen  this  splendid  Juggernaut  rolling  on,  and 
beheld  its  sweeping  desolation ;  and  held  converse  with  the  happy 
thousands,  living,  as  yet,  beyond  its  influence,  who  have  not  been 
crushed,  nor  yet  have  dreamed  of  its  approach. 

I  have  stood  amidst  these  unsophisticated  people,  and  contem¬ 
plated  with  feelings  of  deepest  regret,  the  certain  approach  of  this 
overwhelming  system,  which  will  inevitably  march  on  and  prosper, 
until  reluctant  tears  shall  have  watered  every  rod  of  this  fair  land ; 
and  from  the  towering  cliffs  of  the  Eocky  Mountains,  the  luckless 
savage  will  turn  back  his  swollen  eye,  over  the  blue  and  illimitable 
hunting-grounds  from  whence  he  has  fled,  and  there  contemplate, 
like  Caius  Marius  on  the  ruins  of  Carthage,  their  splendid  desolation. 

Such  is  the  vast  expanse  of  country  from  which  Nature’s  men 
VOL.  II.  M 


178 


are  at  this  time  rapidly  vanishing,  giving  way  to  the  modern  crusade, 
which  is  following  the  thousand  allurements,  and  stocking  with 
myriads,  this  world  of  green  fields.  This  splendid  area,  denominated 
the  “Valley  of  the  Mississippi,”  embraced  between  the  immutable 
barriers  on  either  side,  the  Alleghany  and  Eocky  Mountains ;  with 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico  on  the  south,  and  the  great  string  of  lakes  on 
the  north,  and  the  mighty  Mississippi  rolling  its  turbid  waters 
through  it,  for  the  distance  of  four  thousand  miles,  receiving  its 
hundred  tributaries,  whose  hanks  and  plateaus  are  capable  of  sup¬ 
porting  a  population  of  one  hundred  millions,  covered  almost  entirely 
with  the  richest  soil  in  the  world,  with  lead,  iron,  and  coal,  sufficient 
for  its  population — with  twelve  thousand  miles  of  river  navigation 
for  steamers,  within  its  embrace,  besides  the  coast  on  the  south,  and 
the  great  expanse  of  lakes  on  the  north — with  a  population  of  five 
millions,  already  sprinkled  over  its  nether  half,  and  a  greater  part 
of  the  remainder  of  it,  inviting  the  world  to  its  possession,  for  one 
dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  (five  shillings)  per  acre ! 

I  ask,  who  can  contemplate,  without  amazement,  this  mighty  river 
alone,  eternally  rolling  its  boiling  waters  through  the  richest  of  soil, 
for  the  distance  of  four  thousand  miles ;  over  three  thousand  five 
hundred  of  which,  I  have  myself  been  wafted  on  mighty  steamers, 
ensconced  within  “curtains  damasked,  and  carpets  ingrain”;  and 
on  its  upper  half,  gazed  with  tireless  admiration  upon  its  thousand 
hills  and  mounds  of  grass  and  green,  sloping  down  to  the  water’s 
edge,  in  all  the  grace  and  beauty  of  Nature’s  loveliest  fabrication. 
On  its  lower  half,  also,  whose  rich  alluvial  shores  are  studded  with 
stately  cotton  wood  and  elms,  which  echo  hack  the  deep  and  hollow 
cough  of  the  puffing  steamers.  I  have  contemplated  the  bed  of  this 
vast  river,  sinking  from  its  natural  surface ;  and  the  alligator  driven 
to  its  bosom,  abandoning  his  native  bog  and  fen,  which  are  drying 
and  growing  into  beauty  and  loveliness  under  the  hand  of  the 
husbandman. 

I  have  contemplated  these  boundless  forests  melting  away  before 
the  fatal  axe,  until  the  expanded  waters  of  this  vast  channel,  and  its 
countless  tributaries,  will  yield  their  surplus  to  the  thirsty  sunbeam, 
to  which  their  shorn  hanks  will  expose  them ;  and  I  have  contem¬ 
plated,  also,  the  never-ending  transit  of  steamers,  ploughing  up  the 
sand  and  deposit  from  its  bottom,  which  its  turbid  waters  are 
eternally  hurrying  on  to  the  ocean,  sinking  its  channel,  and  thereby 
raising  its  surrounding  alluvions  for  the  temptations  and  enjoyment 
of  man. 

All  this  is  certain.  Man’s  increase,  and  the  march  of  human 


improvements  in  this  New  World,  are  as  true  and  irresistible  as  the 
laws  of  nature,  and  he  who  could  rise  from  his  grave  and  speak,  or 
would  speak  from  the  life  some  half  century  from  this,  would  pro¬ 
claim  my  prophecy  true  and  fulfilled.  I  said  above  (and  I  again  say 
it),  that  these  are  subjects  for  “sublime  contemplation!”  At  all 
events  they  are  so  to  the  traveller,  who  has  wandered  over  and  seen 
this  vast  subject  in  all  its  parts,  and  able  to  appreciate — who  has 
seen  the  frightened  herds,  as  well  as  multitudes  of  human,  giving 
way  and  shrinking  from  the  mountain  wave  of  civilisation,  which  is 
busily  rolling  on  behind  them. 

From  Maine  to  Florida  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  the  forefathers  of 
those  hardy  sons  who  are  now  stocking  this  fair  land,  have,  from 
necessity,  in  a  hard  and  stubborn  soil,  inured  their  hands  to  labour, 
and  their  habits  and  taste  of  life  to  sobriety  and  economy,  which 
will  ensure  them  success  in  the  new  world. 

This  rich  country  which  is  now  alluring  the  enterprising  young 
men  from  the  East,  being  commensurate  with  the  whole  Atlantic 
States,  holds  out  the  extraordinary  inducement  that  every  emigrant 
can  enjoy  a  richer  soil,  and  that  too  in  his  own  native  latitude.  The 
sugar  planter,  the  rice,  cotton,  and  tobacco  growers — corn,  rye,  and 
wheat  producers,  from  Louisiana  to  Montreal,  have  only  to  turn  their 
faces  to  the  West,  and  there  are  waiting  for  them  the  same  atmosphere 
to  breathe,  and  green  fields  already  cleared,  and  ready  for  the  plough, 
too  tempting  to  be  overlooked  or  neglected. 

As  far  West  as  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi,  the  great  wave  of 
emigration  has  rolled  on,  and  already  in  its  rear  the  valley  is 
sprinkled  with  towns  and  cities,  with  their  thousand  spires  pointing 
to  the  skies.  For  several  hundred  miles  West,  also,  have  the  daring 
pioneers  ventured  their  lives  and  fortunes,  with  their  families,  test¬ 
ing  the  means  and  luxuries  of  life,  which  Nature  has  spread  before 
them ;  in  the  country  where  the  buried  tomahawk  is  scarce  rusted, 
and  the  war-cry  has  scarcely  died  on  the  winds.  Among  these  people 
have  I  roamed.  On  the  Eed  Eiver  I  have  seen  the  rich  Louisianian 
chequering  out  his  cotton  and  sugar  plantations,  where  the  sunbeam 
could  be  seen  reflected  from  the  glistening  pates  of  his  hundred 
negroes,  making  first  trespass  with  the  hoe.  I  have  sat  with  him 
at  his  hospitable  table  in  his  log  cabin,  sipping  sherry  and  champagne. 
He  talks  of  “ hogsheads  and  price  of  stocks,”  or  “goes  in  for  cotton.” 

In  the  western  parts  of  Arkansas  and  Missouri,  I  have  shared 
the  genuine  cottage  hospitality  of  the  abrupt,  yet  polite  and  honour¬ 
able  Kentuckian ;  the  easy,  affable,  and  sociable  Tennesseean ;  this 
ha3  “  a  smart  chance  of  corn  ” ;  the  other,  perhaps,  “  a  power  of 


180 


cotton  ” ;  and  then,  occasionally  (from  the  “  Old  Dominion  ”),  “  I 
recleon  I  shall  have  a  mighty  heap  of  tobacco  this  season,”  etc. 

Boys  in  this  country  are  “peart,”  fever  and  ague  renders  one 
“powerful  weak ,”  and  sometimes  it  is  almost  impossible  to  get  “  shet  ” 
of  it.  Intelligence,  hospitality,  and  good  cheer  reign  under  all  of 
these  humble  roofs,  and  the  traveller  who  knows  how  to  appreciate 
those  things,  with  a  good  cup  of  coffee,  “  corn  *  bread,”  and  fresh 
butter,  can  easily  enjoy  moments  of  bliss  in  converse  with  the 
humble  pioneer. 

On  the  Upper  Mississippi  and  Missouri,  for  the  distance  of  seven 
or  eight  hundred  miles  above  St  Louis,  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
champagne  countries  in  the  world,  continually  alternating  into  timber 
and  fields  of  the  softest  green,  calculated,  from  its  latitude,  for  the 
people  of  the  northern  and  eastern  states,  and  “Jonathan”  is  already 
here — and  almost  everybody  else  from  “down  East” — with  fences 
of  white,  drawn  and  drawing,  like  chalk  lines,  over  the  green  prairie. 
“  By  gosh,  this  ere  is  the  biggest  clearin  I  ever  see.”  “  I  expect  we 
hadn’t  ought  to  raise  nothin  but  wheat  and  rye  here.”  “  I  guess 
you’ve  come  arter  land,  ha’nt  you  ?  ” 

Such  is  the  character  of  this  vast  country,  and  such  the  manner  in 
which  it  is  filled  up,  with  people  from  all  parts,  tracing  their  own 
latitudes,  and  carrying  with  them  their  local  peculiarities  and  pre¬ 
judices.  The  mighty  Mississippi,  however,  the  great  and  everlasting 
highway  on  which  these  people  are  for  ever  to  intermingle  their 
interests  and  manners,  will  effectually  soften  down  those  prejudices, 
and  eventually  result  in  an  amalgamation  of  feelings  and  customs, 
from  which  this  huge  mass  of  population  will  take  one  new  and 
general  appellation. 

It  is  here  that  the  true  character  of  the  American  is  to  be  formed 
— here  where  the  peculiarities  and  incongruities  which  detract  from 
his  true  character  are  surrendered  for  the  free,  yet  lofty  principle  that 
strikes  between  meanness  and  prodigality — between  literal  democracy 
and  aristocracy — between  low  cunning  and  self-engendered  ingenuous¬ 
ness.  Such  will  be  found  to  be  the  true  character  of  the  Americans 
when  jostled  awhile  together,  until  their  local  angles  are  worn  off ; 
and  such  may  be  found  and  already  pretty  well  formed,  in  the 
genuine  Kentuckian,  the  first  brave  and  daring  pioneer  of  the  great 
West;  he  is  the  true  model  of  an  American — the  nucleus  around 
which  the  character  must  form,  and  from  which  it  is  to  emanate  to 
the  world.  This  is  the  man  who  first  relinquished  the  foibles  and 
fashions  of  Eastern  life,  trailing  his  rifle  into  the  forest  of  the 

*  Maize. 


181 


Mississippi,  taking  simple  Nature  for  his  guide.  From  necessity  (as 
well  as  by  nature),  bold  and  intrepid,  with  the  fixed  and  unfaltering 
brow  of  integrity,  and  a  hand  whose  very  grip  (without  words)  tells 
you  welcome. 

And  yet,  many  people  of  the  East  object  to  the  Mississippi,  “  that 
it  is  too  far  off — is  out  of  the  world.”  But  how  strange  and  insuffi¬ 
cient  is  such  an  objection  to  the  traveller  who  has  seen  and  enjoyed  its 
hospitality,  and  reluctantly  retreats  from  it  with  feelings  of  regret ; 
pronouncing  it  a  “  world  of  itself,  equal  in  luxuries  and  amusements 
to  any  other.”  How  weak  is  such  an  objection  to  him  who  has 
ascended  the  Upper  Mississippi  to  the  Fall  of  St  Anthony,  traversed 
the  States  of  Missouri,  Illinois,  and  Michigan,  and  territory  of 
Ouisconsin;  over  all  of  which  nature  has  spread  her  green  fields, 
smiling  and  tempting  man  to  ornament  with  painted  house  and  fence, 
with  prancing  steed  and  tasseled  carriage — with  countless  villages, 
silvered  spires  and  domes,  denoting  march  of  intellect,  and  wealth’s 
refinement.  The  sun  is  sure  to  look  upon  these  scenes,  and  we, 
perhaps,  “may  hear  the  tinkling  from  our  graves .”  Adieu. 


LETTER— No.  54 


BED  PIPE  STONE  QUARRY,  COTEAU  DES  PRAIRIES 

The  reader  who  would  follow  me  from  the  place  where  my  last  epistle 
was  written,  to  where  I  now  am,  must  needs  start,  as  I  did,  from  St 
Louis,  and  cross  the  Alleghany  mountains,  to  my  own  native  state ; 
where  I  left  my  wife  with  my  parents,  and  wended  my  way  to  Buffalo, 
on  Lake  Erie,  where  I  deposited  my  Collection;  and  from  thence 
trace,  as  I  did,  the  zigzag  course  of  the  Lakes,  from  Buffalo  to  Detroit 
— to  the  Sault  de  St  Marys — to  Mackinaw — to  Green  Bay,  and 
thence  the  tortuous  windings  of  the  Fox  and  Ouisconsin  Rivers,  to 
Prairie  du  Chien ;  and  then  the  mighty  Mississippi  (for  the  second 
time),  to  the  Fall  of  St  Anthony — then  the  sluggish,  yet  decorated 
and  beautiful  St  Peters,  towards  its  source ;  and  thence  again  (on 
horseback)  the  gradually  and  gracefully  rising  terraces  of  the  shorn, 
yet  green  and  carpeted  plains,  denominated  the  “  Coteau  des  Prairies  ” 
(being  the  high  and  dividing  ridge  between  the  St  Peters  and  the 
Missouri  Rivers),  where  I  am  bivouacked,  at  the  “  Red  Pipe  Stone 
Quarry  .”  The  distance  of  such  a  Tour  would  take  the  reader 
4000  miles ;  but  I  save  him  the  trouble  by  bringing  him,  in  a 
moment,  on  the  spot. 

This  journey  has  afforded  me  the  opportunity  of  seeing,  on  my  way, 
Mackinaw — the  Sault  de  St  Marys,  and  Green  Bay — points  which  I 
had  not  before  visited ;  and  also  of  seeing  many  distinguished  Indians 
among  the  Chippeways,  Menomonies,  and  Winnebagoes,  whom  I  had 
not  before  painted  or  seen. 

I  can  put  the  people  of  the  East  at  rest,  as  to  the  hostile  aspect  of 
this  part  of  the  country,  as  I  have  just  passed  through  the  midst  of 
these  tribes,  as  well  as  of  the  Sioux,  in  whose  country  I  now  am, 
and  can,  without  contradiction,  assert,  that,  as  far  as  can  be  known, 
they  are  generally  well-disposed,  and  have  been  so,  towards  the  whites. 

There  have  been  two  companies  of  United  States  dragoons,  ordered 
and  marched  to  Green  Bay,  where  I  saw  them ;  and  three  companies 
of  infantry  from  Prairie  du  Chein  to  Fort  Winnebago,  in  anticipation 
of  difficulties;  but  in  all  probability,  without  any  real  cause  or 
necessity,  for  the  Winnebago  chief  answered  the  officer,  who  asked 
him  if  they  wanted  to  fight,  “  that  they  could  not,  had  they  been  so 

132 


2  64 


265 


Laia-n 


1S3 


disposed ;  for,”  said  he,  “  we  have  no  guns,  no  ammunition,  nor  any¬ 
thing  to  eat ;  and,  what  is  worst  of  all,  one  half  of  our  men  are  dying 
with  the  small-pox.  If  you  will  give  us  guns  and  ammunition,  and 
pork,  and  flour,  and  feed  and  take  care  of  our  squaws  and  children, 
we  will  fight  you ;  nevertheless,  we  will  try  to  fight  if  you  want  us 
to,  as  it  is.” 

There  is,  to  appearance  (and  there  is  no  doubt  of  the  truth  of  it), 
the  most  humble  poverty  and  absolute  necessity  for  peace  among 
these  people  at  present,  that  can  possibly  be  imagined.  And,  amidst 
their  poverty  and  wretchedness,  the  only  war  that  suggests  itself  to 
the  eye  of  the  traveller  through  their  country,  is  the  war  of  sympathy 
and  pity,  which  wages  in  the  breast  of  a  feeling,  thinking  man. 

The  small-pox,  whose  ravages  have  now  pretty  nearly  subsided, 
has  taken  off  a  great  many  of  the  Winnebagoes  and  Sioux.  The 
famous  Wa-be-sha,  of  the  Sioux,  and  more  than  half  of  his  band, 
have  fallen  victims  to  it  within  a  few  weeks,  and  the  remainder  of 
them,  blackened  with  its  frightful  distortions,  look  as  if  they  had 
just  emerged  from  the  sulphurous  regions  below.  At  Prairie  du 
Chien,  a  considerable  number  of  the  half-breeds,  and  French  also, 
suffered  death  by  this  baneful  disease ;  and  at  that  place  I  learned 
one  fact,  which  may  be  of  service  to  science,  which  was  this :  that 
in  all  cases  of  vaccination,  which  had  been  given  several  years  ago, 
it  was  an  efficient  protection ;  but  in  those  cases  where  the  vaccine 
had  been  recent  (and  there  were  many  of  them),  it  had  not  the  effect 
to  protect,  and  in  almost  every  instance  of  such,  death  ensued. 

At  the  Sault  de  St  Marys  on  Lake  Superior,  I  saw  a  considerable 
number  of  Chippeways,  living  entirely  on  fish,  which  they  catch  with 
great  ease  at  that  place. 

I  need  not  detain  the  reader  a  moment  with  a  description  of  St 
Marys,  or  of  the  inimitable  summer’s  paradise,  which  can  always  be 
seen  at  Mackinaw ;  and  which,  like  the  other,  has  been  a  hundred 
times  described.  I  shall  probably  have  the  chance  of  seeing  about 
3000  Chippeways  at  the  latter  place  on  my  return  home,  who  are  to 
receive  their  annuities  at  that  time  through  the  hands  of  Mr  School¬ 
craft,  their  agent. 

In  Fig.  264,  I  have  given  a  distant  view  of  Mackinaw,  as  seen 
approaching  it  from  the  east ;  and  in  Fig.  265,  a  view  of  the  Sault  de 
St  Marys,  taken  from  the  Canada  shore,  near  the  missionary-house, 
which  is  seen  in  the  foreground  of  the  picture,  and  in  distance,  the 
United  States  Garrison  and  the  Rapids;  and  beyond  them  the  Capes 
at  the  outlet  of  Lake  Superior. 

I  mentioned  that  the  Chippeways  living  in  the  vicinity  of  the 


184 


Sault,  live  entirely  on  fish ;  and  it  is  almost  literally  true  also,  that 
the  French  and  English,  and  Americans,  who  reside  about  there  live 
on  fish,  which  are  caught  in  the  greatest  abundance  in  the  rapids  at 
that  place,  and  are,  perhaps,  one  of  the  greatest  luxuries  of  the 
world.  The  white  fish,  which  is  in  appearance  much  like  a  salmon, 
though  smaller,  is  the  luxury  I  am  speaking  of,  and  is  caught  in 
immense  quantities  by  the  scoop-nets  of  the  Indians  and  Frenchmen, 
amongst  the  foaming  and  dashing  water  of  the  rapids  (Fig.  266), 
where  it  gains  strength  and  flavour  not  to  be  found  in  the  same  fish 
in  any  other  place.  This  unequalled  fishery  has  long  been  one  of 
vast  importance  to  the  immense  numbers  of  Indians,  who  have 
always  assembled  about  it ;  but  of  late,  has  been  found  by  money- 
making  men,  to  be  too  valuable  a  spot  for  the  exclusive  occupancy 
of  the  savage,  like  hundreds  of  others,  and  has  at  last  been  filled  up 
with  adventurers,  who  have  dipped  their  nets  till  the  poor  Indian  is 
styled  an  intruder ;  and  his  timid  bark  is  seen  dodging  about  in  the 
coves  for  a  scanty  subsistence,  whilst  he  scans  and  envies  insatiable 
white  man  filling  his  barrels  and  boats,  and  sending  them  to  market 
to  be  converted  into  money. 

In  Fig.  267  is  seen  one  of  their  favourite  amusements  at  this 
place,  which  I  was  lucky  enough  to  witness  a  few  miles  below  the 
Sault,  when  high  bettings  had  been  made,  and  a  great  concourse  of 
Indians  had  assembled  to  witness  an  Indian  regatta  or  canoe  racey 
which  went  off  with  great  excitement,  firing  of  guns,  yelping,  etc. 
The  Indians  in  this  vicinity  are  all  Chippeways,  and  their  canoes  all 
made  of  birch  bark,  and  chiefly  of  one  model ;  they  are  exceedingly 
light,  as  I  have  before  described,  and  propelled  with  wonderful 
velocity. 

Whilst  I  stopped  at  the  Sault,  I  made  excursions  on  Lake  Superior, 
and  through  other  parts  of  the  country,  both  on  the  Canada  and  United 
States  sides,  and  painted  a  number  of  Chippeways ;  amongst  whom 
were  On-daig  (the  crow,  Fig.  268),  a  young  man  of  distinction,  in  an 
extravagant  and  beautiful  costume;  and  Gitch-ee-gaw-ga-osh  (the 
point  that  remains  for  ever),  an  old  and  respected  chief.*  And 
besides  these,  Gaw-zaw-gue-dung  (he  who  halloos);  Kay-ee-gua-da- 
kum-ee-gish-kum  (he  who  tries  the  ground  with  his  foot) ;  and  I-an- 
le-wa-dick  (the  male  carabou). 

From  Mickinaw  I  proceeded  to  Green  Bay,  which  is  a  flourishing 
beginning  of  a  town,  in  the  heart  of  a  rich  country,  and  the  head¬ 
quarters  of  land  speculators. 

*  This  very  distinguished  old  chief,  I  have  learned,  died  a  few  weeks  after  I 
painted  his  portrait. 


149 


2  66 


r,  Coffin 


267 


150 


183 


From  thence,  I  embarked  in  a  large  bark  canoe,  with  five  French 
voyageurs  at  the  oars,  where  happened  to  be  grouped  and  messed 
together,  five  “jolly  companions”  of  us,  bound  for  Fort  Winnebago 
and  the  Mississippi.  All  our  stores  and  culinary  articles  were 
catered  for  by,  and  bill  rendered  to,  mine  host,  Mr  C.  Jennings 
(quondam  of  the  City  Hotel  in  New  York),  who  was  one  of  our  party, 
and  whom  we  soon  elected  “  Major  ”  of  the  expedition ;  and  shortly 
after,  promoted  to  “  Colonel ” — from  the  philosophical  dignity  and 
patience  with  which  he  met  the  difficulties  and  exposure  which  we 
had  to  encounter,  as  well  as  for  his  extraordinary  skill  and  taste  dis¬ 
played  in  the  culinary  art.  Mr  Irving,  a  relative  of  W.  Irving,  Esq., 
and  Mr  Eobert  Serril  Wood,  an  Englishman  (both  travellers  of 
European  realms,  with  fund  inexhaustible  for  amusement  and  enter¬ 
tainment)  ;  Lieutenant  Eeed,  of  the  army,  and  myself,  forming  the 
rest  of  the  party.  The  many  amusing  little  incidents  which 
enlivened  our  transit  up  the  sinuous  windings  of  the  Fox  Eiver,  amid 
its  rapids,  its  banks  of  loveliest  prairies  and  “  oak  openings,”  and  its 
boundless  shores  of  wild  rice,  with  the  thrilling  notes  of  Mr  Wood’s 
guitar,  and  “  chansons  pour  rire ,”  from  our  tawny  boatmen,  etc.,  were 
too  good  to  be  thrown  away,  and  have  been  registered,  perhaps  for  a 
future  occasion.  Suffice  it  for  the  present,  that  our  fragile  bark 
brought  us  in  good  time  to  Fort  Winnebago,  with  impressions 
engraven  on  our  hearts  which  can  never  be  erased,  of  this  sweet  and 
beautiful  little  river,  and  of  the  fun  and  fellowship  which  kept  us 
awake  during  the  nights,  almost  as  well  as  during  the  days.  At  this 
post,  after  remaining  a  day,  our  other  companions  took  a  different 
route,  leaving  Mr  Wood  and  myself  to  cater  anew,  and  to  buy  a  light 
bark  canoe  for  our  voyage  down  the  Ouisconsin,  to  Prairie  du  Chien ; 
in  which  we  embarked  the  next  day,  with  paddles  in  hand,  and 
hearts  as  light  as  the  zephyrs,  amid  which  we  propelled  our  little 
canoe.  Three  days’  paddling,  embracing  two  nights’  encampment, 
brought  us  to  the  end  of  our  voyage.  We  entered  the  mighty  Missis¬ 
sippi,  and  mutually  acknowledged  ourselves  paid  for  our  labours,  by 
the  inimitable  scenes  of  beauty  and  romance,  through  which  we  had 
passed,  and  on  which  our  untiring  eyes  had  been  riveted  during  the 
whole  way. 

The  Ouisconsin,  which  the  French  most  appropriately  denominate 
“  La  belle  riviere,”  may  certainly  vie  with  any  other  on  the  Continent 
or  in  the  world,  for  its  beautifully  skirted  banks  and  prairie  bluffs. 
It  may  justly  be  said  to  be  equal  to  the  Mississippi  about  the  Prairie 
du  Chien  in  point  of  sweetness  and  beauty,  but  not  on  quite  so  grand 
a  scale. 

M* 


186 


My  excellent  and  esteemed  fellow-traveller,  like  a  true  English¬ 
man,  has  untiringly  stuck  by  me  through  all  difficulties,  passing  the 
countries  above-mentioned,  and  also  the  Upper  Mississippi,  the  St 
Peters,  and  the  overland  route  to  our  present  encampment  on  this 
splendid  plateau  of  the  Western  world.  *  *  * 

*  *  Thus  far  have  I  strolled,  within  the  space  of  a 

few  weeks,  for  the  purpose  of  reaching  classic  ground. 

Be  not  amazed  if  I  have  sought,  in  this  distant  realm,  the  Indian 
Muse,  for  here  she  dwells,  and  here  she  must  be  invoked — nor  be 
offended  if  my  narratives  from  this  moment  should  savour  of  poetry 
or  appear  like  romance. 

If  I  can  catch  the  inspiration,  I  may  sing  (or  yell)  a  few  epistles 
from  this  famed  ground  before  I  leave  it ;  or  at  least  I  will  prose  a 
few  of  its  leading  characteristics  and  mysterious  legends.  This 
place  is  great  (not  in  history,  for  there  is  none  of  it,  but)  in  traditions, 
and  stories,  of  which  this  Western  world  is  full  and  rich. 

“Here  (according  to  their  traditions),  happened  the  mysterious 
birth  of  the  red  pipe,  which  has  blown  its  fumes  of  peace  and  war  to 
the  remotest  corners  of  the  Continent;  which  has  visited  every 
warrior,  and  passed  through  its  reddened  stem  the  irrevocable  oath 
of  war  and  desolation.  And  here  also,  the  peace-breathing  calumet 
was  born,  and  fringed  with  the  eagle’s  quills,  which  has  shed  its 
thrilling  fumes  over  the  land,  and  soothed  the  fury  of  the  relentless 
savage. 

“  The  Great  Spirit  at  an  ancient  period,  here  called  the  Indian 
nations  together,  and  standing  on  the  precipice  of  the  red  pipe  stone 
rock,  broke  from  its  wall  a  piece,  and  made  a  huge  pipe  by  turning 
it  in  his  hand,  which  he  smoked  over  them,  and  to  the  north,  the 
south,  the  east,  and  the  west,  and  told  them  that  this  stone  was  red 
— that  it  was  their  flesh — that  they  must  use  it  for  their  pipes  of 
peace — that  it  belonged  to  them  all,  and  that  the  war-club  and 
scalping-knife  must  not  be  raised  on  its  ground.  At  the  last  whiff 
of  his  pipe  his  head  went  into  a  great  cloud,  and  the  whole  surface 
of  the  rock  for  several  miles  was  melted  and  glazed ;  two  great  ovens 
were  opened  beneath,  and  two  women  (guardian  spirits  of  the  place), 
entered  them  in  a  blaze  of  fire ;  and  they  are  heard  there  yet  (Tso- 
mec-cos-tee,  and  Tso-me-cos-te-won-dee),  answering  to  the  invoca¬ 
tions  of  the  high  priests  or  medicine-men,  who  consult  them  when 
they  are  visitors  to  this  sacred  place.” 

Near  this  spot,  also,  on  a  high  mound,  is  the  “  Thunder’s  nest  ” 
(nid-du-Tonnerc),  where  “a  very  small  bird  sits  upon  her  eggs  during 
fair  weather,  and  the  skies  are  rent  with  bolts  of  thunder  at  the 


lil 


187 


approach  of  a  storm,  which  is  occasioned  by  the  hatching  of  her 
brood !  ” 

“This  bird  is  eternal,  and  incapable  of  reproducing  her  own 
species :  she  has  often  been  seen  by  the  medicine-men,  and  is  about 
as  large  as  the  end  of  the  little  finger !  Her  mate  is  a  serpent,  whose 
fiery  tongue  destroys  the  young  ones  as  they  are  hatched,  and  the 
fiery  noise  darts  through  the  skies.” 

Such  are  a  few  of  the  stories  of  this  famed  land,  which  of  itself, 
in  its  beauty  and  loveliness,  without  the  aid  of  traditionary  fame, 
would  be  appropriately  denominated  a  paradise.  Whether  it  has 
been  an  Indian  Eden  or  not,  or  whether  the  thunderbolts  of  Indian 
Jupiter  are  actually  forged  here,  it  is  nevertheless  a  place  renowned 
in  Indian  heraldry  and  tradition,  which  I  hope  I  may  be  able  to 
fathom  and  chronicle,  as  explanatory  of  many  of  my  anecdotes  and 
traditionary  superstitions  of  Indian  history,  which  I  have  given,  and 
am  giving,  to  the  world. 

With  my  excellent  companion,  I  am  encamped  on,  and  writing 
from,  the  very  rock  where  “  the  Great  Spirit  stood  when  he  conse¬ 
crated  the  pipe  of  peace,  by  moulding  it  from  the  rock,  and  smoking 
it  over  the  congregated  nations  that  were  assembled  about  him.” 
(See  Fig.  270.) 

Lifted  up  on  this  stately  mound,  whose  top  is  fanned  with  air  as 
light  to  breathe  as  nitrous  oxide  gas — and  bivouacked  on  its  very 
ridge  (where  nought  on  earth  is  seen  in  distance  save  the  thousand 
treeless,  bushless,  wcedless  hills  of  grass  and  vivid  green  which  all 
around  me  vanish  into  an  infinity  of  blue  and  azure),  stretched  on 
our  bears’-skins,  my  fellow-traveller,  Mr  Wood,  and  myself,  have 
lain  and  contemplated  the  splendid  orrery  of  the  heavens.  With  sad 
delight,  that  shook  me  with  a  terror,  have  I  watched  the  swollen  sun 
shoving  down  (too  fast  for  time)  upon  the  mystic  horizon ;  whose  line 
was  lost  except  as  it  was  marked  in  blue  across  his  blood-red  disc. 
Thus  have  we  lain  night  after  night  (two  congenial  spirits  who  could 
draw  pleasure  from  sublime  contemplation),  and  descanted  on  our 
own  insignificance ;  we  have  closely  drawn  our  buffalo  robes  about 
us,  talked  of  the  ills  of  life — of  friends  we  had  lost — of  projects  that 
had  failed — and  of  the  painful  steps  we  had  to  retrace  to  reach  our 
own  dear  native  lands  again.  We  have  sighed  in  the  melancholy  of 
twilight,  when  the  busy  winds  were  breathing  their  last,  the  chill  of 
sable  night  was  hovering  around  us,  and  nought  of  noise  was  heard 
but  the  silvery  tones  of  the  howling  wolf,  and  the  subterraneous 
whistle  of  the  busy  gophirs  that  were  ploughing  and  vaulting  the 
earth  beneath  us.  Thus  have  we  seen  wheeled  down  in  the  West,  the 


188 


glories  of  day;  and  at  the  next  moment,  in  the  East,  beheld  her  silver 
majesty  jutting  up  above  the  horizon,  with  splendour  in  her  face  that 
seemed  again  to  fill  the  world  with  joy  and  gladness.  We  have  seen 
here,  too,  in  all  its  sublimity,  the  blackening  thunderstorm — the 
lightning’s  glare,  and  stood  amidst  the  jarring  thunderbolts,  that 
tore  and  broke  in  awful  rage  about  us,  as  they  rolled  over  the  smooth 
surface,  with  nought  but  empty  air  to  vent  their  vengeance  on. 
There  is  a  sublime  grandeur  in  these  scenes  as  they  are  presented 
here,  which  must  he  seen  and  felt  to  be  understood.  There  is  a 
majesty  in  the  very  ground  that  we  tread  upon,  that  inspires  with 
awe  and  reverence ;  and  he  must  have  the  soul  of  a  brute,  who  could 
gallop  his  horse  for  a  whole  day  over  swells  and  terraces  of  green 
that  rise  continually  ahead,  and  tantalise  (where  hills  peep  over 
hills,  and  Alps  on  Alps  arise),  without  feeling  his  bosom  swell  with 
awe  and  admiration,  and  himself  as  well  as  his  thoughts,  lifted  up  in 
sublimity  when  he  rises  the  last  terrace,  and  sweeps  his  eye  over  the 
wide  spread,  blue  and  pictured  infinity  that  lies  around  and  beneath 
him.* 

Man  feels  here,  and  startles  at  the  thrilling  sensation,  the  force 
of  illimitable  freedom — his  body  and  his  mind  both  seem  to  have 
entered  a  new  element — the  former  as  free  as  the  very  wind  it  in¬ 
hales,  and  the  other  as  expanded  and  infinite  as  the  boundless 
imagery  that  is  spread  in  distance  around  him.  Such  is  (and  it  is 
feebly  told)  the  Coteau  du  Prairie.  The  rock  on  which  I  sit  to  write, 
is  the  summit  of  a  precipice  thirty  feet  high,  extending  two  miles  in 
length  and  much  of  the  way  polished,  as  if  a  liquid  glazing  had  been 
poured  over  its  surface.  Not  far  from  us,  in  the  solid  rock,  are  the 
deep  impressed  “  footsteps  of  the  Great  Spirit  (in  the  form  of  a  track 
of  a  large  bird),  where  he  formerly  stood  when  the  blood  of  the 
buffaloes  that  he  was  devouring,  ran  into  the  rocks  and  turned  them 
red.”  At  a  few  yards  from  us,  leaps  a  beautiful  little  stream,  from  the 
top  of  the  precipice,  into  a  deep  basin  below.  Here,  amid  rocks  of  the 
loveliest  hues,  but  wildest  contour,  is  seen  the  poor  Indian  performing 
ablution  ;  and  at  a  little  distance  beyond,  on  the  plain,  at  the  base  of 
five  huge  granite  boulders,  he  is  humbly  propitiating  the  guardian 
spirits  of  the  place,  by  sacrifices  of  tobacco,  entreating  for  permission 
to  take  away  a  small  piece  of  the  red  stone  for  a  pipe.  Farther 
along,  and  over  an  extended  plain  are  seen,  like  gophir  hills,  their 
excavations,  ancient  and  recent,  and  on  the  surface  of  the  rocks, 

*  The  reader  and  traveller,  who  may  have  this  book  with  him,  should  follow  the 
Coteau  a  few  miles  to  the  north  of  the  Quarry,  for  the  highest  elevation  and 
greatest  sublimity  of  view. 


189 


various  marks  and  their  sculptured  hieroglyphics — their  wakons, 
totems,  and  medicines — subjects  numerous  and  interesting  for  the 
antiquary  or  the  merely  curious.  Graves,  mounds,  and  ancient  forti¬ 
fications  that  lie  in  sight — the  pyramid  or  leapiny-rock,  and  its 
legends ;  together  with  traditions,  novel  and  numerous,  and  a 
description,  graphical  and  geological,  of  this  strange  place,  have  all 
been  subjects  that  have  passed  rapidly  through  my  contemplation 
and  will  be  given  in  future  epistles. 

On  our  way  to  this  place,  my  English  companion  and  myself  were 
arrested  by  a  rascally  band  of  the  Sioux,  and  held  in  durance  vile,  for 
having  dared  to  approach  the  sacred  fountain  of  the  pipe  !  While  we 
had  halted  at  the  trading-hut  of  “  Le  Blanc,”  at  a  place  called  Tra¬ 
verse  des  Sioux,  on  the  St  Peters  river,  and  about  150  miles  from  the 
Bed  Pipe,  a  murky  cloud  of  dark-visaged  warriors  and  braves  com¬ 
menced  gathering  around  the  house,  closing  and  cramming  all  its 
avenues,  when  one  began  his  agitated  and  insulting  harangue  to  us, 
announcing  to  us  in  the  preamble,  that  we  were  prisoners,  and  could 
not  go  ahead.  About  twenty  of  them  spoke  in  turn ;  and  we  were 
doomed  to  sit  nearly  the  whole  afternoon,  without  being  allowed  to 
speak  a  word  in  our  behalf,  until  they  had  all  got  through.  We 
were  compelled  to  keep  our  seats  like  culprits  and  hold  our  tongues, 
till  all  had  brandished  their  fists  in  our  faces,  and  vented  all  the 
threats  and  invective  which  could  flow  from  Indian  malice,  grounded 
on  the  presumption  that  we  had  come  to  trespass  on  their  dearest 
privilege — their  religion. 

There  was  some  allowance  to  be  made,  and  some  excuse,  surely, 
for  the  rashness  of  these  poor  fellows,  and  we  felt  disposed  to  pity, 
rather  than  resent,  though  their  unpardonable  stubbornness  excited  us 
almost  to  desperation.  Their  superstition  was  sensibly  touched,  for 
we  were  persisting,  in  the  most  peremptory  terms,  in  the  determina¬ 
tion  to  visit  this,  their  greatest  medicine  (mystery)  place ;  where,  it 
seems,  they  had  often  resolved  no  white  man  should  ever  be  allowed 
to  go.  They  took  us  to  he  “  officers  sent  by  Government  to  see  what 
this  place  was  worth,”  etc.  As  “  this  red  stone  was  a  part  of  their 
flesh,  it  would  be  sacrilegious  for  white  man  to  touch  or  take  it 
away  ” — “  a  hole  would  be  made  in  their  flesh,  and  the  blood  could 
never  be  made  to  stop  running.”  My  companion  and  myself  were 
here  in  a  fix,  one  that  demanded  the  use  of  every  energy  we  had 
about  us ;  astounded  at  so  unexpected  a  rebuff,  and  more  than  ever 
excited  to  go  ahead,  and  see  what  was  to  be  seen  at  this  strange 
place  ;  in  this  emergency,  we  mutually  agreed  to  go  forward,  even  if 
it  should  be  at  the  hazard  of  our  lives ;  we  heard  all  they  had  to  say. 


190 


and  then  made  our  own  speeches — and  at  length  had  our  horses 
brought,  which  we  mounted  and  rode  off  without  further  molestation  ; 
and  having  arrived  upon  this  interesting  ground,  have  found  it  quite 
equal  in  interest  and  beauty  to  our  sanguine  expectations,  abundantly 
repaying  us  for  all  our  trouble  in  travelling  to  it. 

I  had  long  ago  heard  many  curious  descriptions  of  this  spot  given 
by  the  Indians,  and  had  contracted  the  most  impatient  desire  to  visit 
it.*  It  will  be  seen  by  some  of  the  traditions  inserted  in  this  Letter, 
from  my  notes  taken  on  the  Upper  Missouri  four  years  since,  that 
those  tribes  have  visited  this  place  freely  in  former  times ;  and  that 
it  has  once  been  held  and  owned  in  common,  as  neutral  ground, 
amongst  the  different  tribes  who  met  here  to  renew  their  pipes,  under 
some  superstition  which  stayed  the  tomahawk  of  natural  foes,  always 
raised  in  deadly  hate  and  vengeance  in  other  places.  It  will  be  seen 
also,  that  within  a  few  years  past  (and  that,  probably,  by  the  instiga¬ 
tion  of  the  whites,  who  have  told  them  that  by  keeping  off  other 
tribes,  and  manufacturing  the  pipes  themselves,  and  trading  them  to 
other  adjoining  nations,  they  can  acquire  much  influence  and  wealth), 
the  Sioux  have  laid  entire  claim  to  this  quarry ;  and  as  it  is  in  the 
centre  of  their  country,  and  they  are  more  powerful  than  any  other 
tribes,  they  are  able  successfully  to  prevent  any  access  to  it. 

That  this  place  should  have  been  visited  for  centuries  past  by  all 
the  neighbouring  tribes,  who  have  hidden  the  war-club  as  they  ap¬ 
proached  it,  and  stayed  the  cruelties  of  the  scalping-knife,  under  the 
fear  of  the  vengeance  of  the  Great  Spirit,  who  overlooks  it,  will  not 
seem  strange  or  unnatural,  when  their  religion  and  superstitions  are 
known. 

That  such  has  been  the  custom,  there  is  not  a  shadow  of  doubt 
and  that  even  so  recently  as  to  have  been  witnessed  by  hundreds  and 
thousands  of  Indians  of  different  tribes,  now  living,  and  from  many 

*  I  have  in  former  epistles,  several  times  spoken  of  the  red  pipes  of  the  Indians 
which  are  found  in  almost  every  tribe  of  Indians  on  the  Continent ;  and  in  every 
instance  have,  I  venture  to  say,  been  brought  from  the  Coteau  des  Prairies,  inas¬ 
much  as  no  tribe  of  Indians  that  I  have  yet  visited,  have  ever  apprised  me  of  any 
other  source  than  this  ;  and  the  stone  from  which  they  are  all  manufactured,  is  of 
the  same  character  exactly,  and  different  from  any  known  mineral  compound  ever 
yet  discovered  in  any  part  of  Europe,  or  other  parts  of  the  American  Continent. 
This  may  be  thought  a  broad  assertion— yet  it  is  one  I  have  ventured  to  make  (and 
one  I  should  have  had  no  motive  for  making,  except  for  the  purpose  of  eliciting 
information,  if  there  be  any,  on  a  subject  so  curious  and  so  exceedingly  interesting). 
In  my  Indian  Museum  there  can  always  be  seen  a  great  many  beautiful  specimens  of 
this  mineral  selected  on  the  spot,  by  myself,  embracing  all  of  its  numerous  varieties ; 
and  I  challenge  the  world  to  produce  anything  like  it,  except  it  be  from  the  same 
locality.  In  a  following  Letter  will  be  found  a  further  account  of  it,  and  its  chemical 
analysis. 


191 


of  whom  I  have  personally  drawn  the  information,  some  of  which 
will  be  set  forth  in  the  following  traditions ;  and  as  an  additional 
(and  still  more  conclusive)  evidence  of  the  above  position,  here  are  to 
he  seen  (and  will  continne  to  be  seen  for  ages  to  come)  the  totems  and 
arms  of  the  different  tribes,  who  have  visited  this  place  for  ages  past, 
deeply  engraved  on  the  quartz  rocks,  where  they  are  to  be  recognised 
in  a  moment  (and  not  to  be  denied)  by  the  passing  traveller,  who  has 
been  among  these  tribes,  and  acquired  even  but  a  partial  knowledge 
of  them  and  their  respective  modes.* 

The  thousands  of  inscriptions  and  paintings  on  the  rocks  at  this 
place,  as  well  as  the  ancient  diggings  for  the  pipe  stone,  will  afford 
amusement  for  the  world  who  will  visit  it,  without  furnishing  the 
least  data,  I  should  think,  of  the  time  at  which  these  excavations 
commenced,  or  of  the  period  at  which  the  Sioux  assumed  the  exclu¬ 
sive  right  to  it. 

Among  the  many  traditions  which  I  have  drawn  personally  from 
the  different  tribes,  and  which  go  to  support  the  opinion  above  ad¬ 
vanced,  is  the  following  one,  which  was  related  to  me  by  a  dis¬ 
tinguished  Knisteneaux,  on  the  Upper  Missouri,  four  years  since,  on 
occasion  of  presenting  to  me  a  handsome  red  stone  pipe.  After  telling 
me  that  he  had  been  to  this  place — and  after  describing  it  in  all  its 
features,  he  proceeded  to  say : — 

“  That  in  the  time  of  a  great  freshet,  which  took  place  many 
centuries  ago,  and  destroyed  all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  all  the 
tribes  of  the  red  men  assembled  on  the  Coteau  du  Prairie,  to  get  out 
of  the  way  of  the  waters.  After  they  had  all  gathered  here  from  all 
parts,  the  water  continued  to  rise,  until  at  length  it  covered  them  all 
in  a  mass,  and  their  flesh  was  converted  into  red  pipe  stone.  There¬ 
fore  it  has  always  been  considered  neutral  ground — it  belonged  to  all 
tribes  alike,  and  all  were  allowed  to  get  it  and  smoke  it  together. 

“  While  they  were  all  drowning  in  a  mass,  a  young  woman, 
K-wap-tah-w  (a  virgin),  caught  hold  of  the  foot  of  a  very  large 
bird  that  was  flying  over,  and  was  carried  to  the  top  of  a  high 
cliff,  not  far  off,  that  was  above  the  water.  Here  she  had  twins, 

*  I  am  aware  that  this  interesting  fact  may  be  opposed  by  subsequent  travellers 
who  will  find  nobody  but  the  Sioux  upon  this  ground,  who  now  claim  exclusive 
right  to  it ;  and  for  the  satisfaction  of  those  who  doubt,  I  refer  them  to  Lewis  and 
Clarke’s  Tour  thirty-three  years  since,  before  the  influence  of  traders  had  deranged 
the  system  and  truth  of  things,  in  these  regions.  I  have  often  conversed  with 
General  Clarke,  of  St  Louis,  on  this  subject,  and  he  told  me  explicitly,  and  authorised 
me  to  say  it  to  the  world,  that  every  tribe  on  the  Missouri  told  him  they  had  been 
to  this  place,  and  that  the  Great  Spirit  kept  the  peace  amongst  his  red  children  on 
that  ground,  where  they  had  smoked  with  their  enemies. 


192 


and  their  father  was  the  war-eagle,  and  her  children  have  since 
peopled  the  earth. 

“  The  pipe  stone,  which  is  the  flesh  of  their  ancestors,  is  smoked 
by  them  as  the  symbol  of  peace,  and  the  eagle’s  quill  decorates  the 
head  of  the  brave.” 

Tradition  of  the  Sioux. — “  Before  the  creation  of  man,  the  Great 
Spirit  (whose  tracks  are  yet  to  be  seen  on  the  stones,  at  the  Red  Pipe, 
in  form  of  the  tracks  of  a  large  bird)  used  to  slay  the  buffaloes  and 
eat  them  on  the  ledge  of  the  Red  Rocks,  on  the  top  of  the  Coteau  des 
Prairies,  and  their  blood  running  on  to  the  rocks,  turned  them  red. 
One  day  when  a  large  snake  had  crawled  into  the  nest  of  the  bird  to 
eat  his  eggs,  one  of  the  eggs  hatched  out  in  a  clap  of  thunder,  and  the 
Great  Spirit  catching  hold  of  a  piece  of  the  pipe  stone  to  throw  at  the 
snake,  moulded  it  into  a  man.  This  man’s  feet  grew  fast  in  the 
ground  where  he  stood  for  many  ages,  like  a  great  tree,  and  therefore 
he  grew  very  old ;  he  was  older  than  a  hundred  men  at  the  present 
day ;  and  at  last  another  tree  grew  up  by  the  side  of  him,  when  a 
large  snake  ate  them  both  off  at  the  roots,  and  they  wandered  off 
together ;  from  these  have  sprung  all  the  people  that  now  inhabit  the 
earth.” 

The  above  tradition  I  found  amongst  the  Upper  Missouri  Sioux, 
but  which,  when  I  related  to  that  part  of  the  great  tribe  of  Sioux  who 
inhabit  the  Upper  Mississippi,  they  seemed  to  know  nothing  about 
it.  The  reason  for  this  may  have  been,  perhaps,  as  is  often  the  case, 
owing  to  the  fraud  or  excessive  ignorance  of  the  interpreter,  on  whom 
we  are  often  entirely  dependent  in  this  country;  or  it  is  more 
probably  owing  to  the  very  vague  and  numerous  fables  which  may 
often  be  found,  cherished  and  told  by  different  bands  or  families  in 
the  same  tribe,  and  relative  to  the  same  event. 

I  shall  on  a  future  occasion,  give  you  a  Letter  on  traditions  of  this 
kind,  which  will  be  found  to  be  very  strange  and  amusing;  establish¬ 
ing  the  fact  at  the  same  time,  that  theories  respecting  their  origin, 
creation  of  the  world,  etc.,  etc.,  are  by  no  means  uniform  throughout 
the  different  tribes,  nor  even  through  an  individual  tribe ;  and  that 
very  many  of  these  theories  are  but  the  vagaries,  or  the  ingenious 
systems  of  their  medicine  or  mystery -men,  conjured  up  and  taught  to 
their  own  respective  parts  of  a  tribe,  for  the  purpose  of  gaining  an 
extraordinary  influence  over  the  minds  and  actions  of  the  remainder 
of  the  tribe,  whose  superstitious  minds,  under  the  supernatural  con¬ 
trol  and  dread  of  these  self-made  magicians,  are  held  in  a  state  of 
mysterious  vassalage. 

Amongst  the  Sioux  of  the  Mississippi,  and  who  live  in  the  region 


193 


of  the  Red  Pipe  Stone  Quarry,  I  found  the  following  and  not  less 
strange  tradition  on  the  same  subject.  “  Many  ages  after  the  red 
men  were  made,  when  all  the  different  tribes  were  at  war,  the  Great 
Spirit  sent  runners  and  called  them  all  together  at  the  ‘  Red  Pipe.’ 
He  stood  on  the  top  of  the  rocks,  and  the  red  people  were  assembled 
in  infinite  numbers  on  the  plains  below.  He  took  out  of  the  rock  a 
piece  of  the  red  stone,  and  made  a  large  pipe ;  he  smoked  it  over  them 
all ;  told  them  it  was  part  of  their  flesh ;  that  though  they  were  at 
war,  they  must  meet  at  this  place  as  friends  ;  that  it  belonged  to  them 
all ;  that  they  must  make  their  calumets  from  it  and  smoke  them  to 
him  whenever  they  wished  to  appease  him  or  get  his  good-will — the 
smoke  from  his  big  pipe  rolled  over  them  all,  and  he  disappeared  in 
its  cloud ;  at  the  last  whiff  of  his  pipe  a  blaze  of  fire  rolled  over  the 
rocks,  and  melted  their  surface — at  that  moment  two  squaws  went 
in  a  blaze  of  fire  under  the  two  medicine  rocks,  where  they  remain 
to  this  day,  and  must  be  consulted  and  propitiated  whenever  the  pipe 
stone  is  to  be  taken  away.” 

The  following  speech  of  a  Mandan,  which  was  made  to  me  in  the 
Mandan  village  four  years  since,  after  I  had  painted  his  picture,  I 
have  copied  from  my  note-book  as  corroborative  of  the  same  facts : — 

“  My  brother — You  have  made  my  picture  and  I  like  it  much. 
My  friends  tell  me  they  can  see  the  eyes  move,  and  it  must  be  very 
good — it  must  be  partly  alive.  I  am  glad  it  is  done — though  many 
of  my  people  are  afraid.  I  am  a  young  man,  but  my  heart  is  strong. 
I  have  jumped  on  to  the  medicine-rock — I  have  placed  my  arrow  on 
it  and  no  Mandan  can  take  it  away.*  The  red  stone  is  slippery,  but 


*  The  medicine  (or  leaping)  rock  is  a  part  of  the  precipice  which  has  become 
severed  from  the  main  part,  standing  about  seven  or  eight  feet  from  the  wall,  just 
equal  in  height,  and  about  seven  feet  in  diameter. 

It  stands  like  an  immense  column  of  thirty-five  feet  high,  and  highly  polished  on 
its  top  and  sides.  It  requires  a  daring  effort  to  leap  on  to  its  top  from  the  main 
wall,  and  back  again,  and  many  a  heart  has  sighed  for  the  honour  of  the  feat  without 
daring  to  make  the  attempt  Some  few  have  tried  it  with  success,  and  left  their 
arrows  standing  in  its  crevice,  several  of  wrhich  are  seen  there  at  this  time ;  others 
have  leapt  the  chasm  and  fallen  from  the  slippery  surface  on  which  they  could  not 
hold,  and  suffered  instant  death  upon  the  craggy  rocks  below.  Every  young  man 
in  the  nation  is  ambitious  to  perform  this  feat ;  and  those  who  have  successfully 
done  it  are  allowed  to  boast  of  it  all  their  lives.  In  the  sketch  already  exhibited, 
there  will  be  seen  a  view  of  the  “  leaping  rock  ” ;  and  in  the  middle  of  the  picture, 
a  mound,  of  a  conical  form,  of  ten  feet  height,  which  was  erected  over  the  body  of 
a  distinguished  young  man  who  was  killed  by  making  this  daring  effort,  about 
two  years  before  I  was  there,  and  whose  sad  fate  was  related  to  me  by  a  Sioux 
chief,  who  was  father  of  the  young  man,  and  was  visiting  the  Red  Pipe  Stone 
Quarry,  with  thirty  others  of  his  tribe,  when  we  were  there,  and  cried  over  the 
grave,  as  he  related  the  story  to  Mr  Wood  and  myself,  of  his  son’s  death. 

VOL.  II.  N 


194 


my  foot  was  true — it  did  not  slip.  My  brother,  this  pipe  which  I 
give  to  you,  I  brought  from  a  high  mountain,  it  is  toward  the  rising 
sun — many  were  the  pipes  that  we  brought  from  there — and  we 
brought  them  away  in  peace.  We  left  our  totems  or  marks  on  the 
rocks — we  cut  them  deep  in  the  stones,  and  they  are  there  now.  The 
Great  Spirit  told  all  nations  to  meet  there  in  peace,  and  all  nations 
hid  the  war-club  and  the  tomahawk.  The  Dah-co-tahs,  who  are  our 
enemies,  are  very  strong — they  have  taken  up  the  tomahawk,  and  the 
blood  of  our  warriors  has  run  on  the  rocks.  My  friend,  we  want  to 
visit  our  medicines — our  pipes  are  old  and  worn  out.  My  friend,  I 
wish  you  to  speak  to  our  Great  Father  about  this.” 

The  chief  of  the  Puncahs,  on  the  Upper  Missouri,  also  made  the 
following  allusion  to  this  place,  in  a  speech  which  he  made  to  me  on 
the  occasion  of  presenting  me  a  very  handsome  pipe  about  four  years 
since : — 

“  My  friend,  this  pipe,  which  I  wish  you  to  accept,  was  dug  from 
the  ground,  and  cut  and  polished  as  you  now  see  it,  by  my  hands.  I 
wish  you  to  keep  it,  and  when  you  smoke  through  it,  recollect  that 
this  red  stone  is  a  part  of  our  flesh.  This  is  one  of  the  last  things  we 
can  ever  give  away.  Our  enemies  the  Sioux,  have  raised  the  red  flag 
of  blood  over  the  Pipe  Stone  Quarry,  and  our  medicines  there  are 
trodden  under  foot  by  them.  The  Sioux  are  many,  and  we  cannot 
go  to  the  mountain  of  the  red  pipe.  We  have  seen  all  nations  smok¬ 
ing  together  at  that  place — but,  my  brother,  it  is  not  so  now.”  * 

Such  are  a  few  of  the  stories  relating  to  this  curious  place,  and 
many  others  might  be  given  which  I  have  procured,  though  they 
amount  to  nearly  the  same  thing,  with  equal  contradictions  and 
equal  absurdities. 

The  position  of  the  Pipe  Stone  Quarry,  is  in  a  direction  nearly 

*  On  my  return  from  the  Pipe  Stone  Quarry,  one  of  the  old  chiefs  of  the  Sacs, 
on  seeing  some  specimens  of  the  stone  which  I  brought  with  me  from  that  place, 
observed  as  follows  : — 

“  My  friend,  when  I  was  young,  I  used  to  go  with  our  young  men  to  the 
mountain  of  the  Red  Pipe,  and  dig  out  pieces  for  our  pipes.  We  do  not  go  now ; 
and  our  red  pipes  as  you  see,  are  few.  The  Dah-co-tahs  have  spilled  the  blood  of 
red  men  on  that  place,  and  the  Great  Spirit  is  offended.  The  white  traders  have 
told  them  to  draw  their  bows  upon  us  when  we  go  there ;  and  they  have  offered  us 
many  of  the  pipes  for  sale,  but  we  do  not  want  to  smoke  them,  for  we  know  that 
the  Great  Spirit  is  offended.  My  mark  is  on  the  rocks  in  many  places,  but  I  shall 
never  see  them  again.  They  lie  where  the  Great  Spirit  sees  them,  for  his  eye  is 
over  that  place,  and  he  sees  everything  that  is  here.” 

Ke-o-kuck  chief  of  the  Sacs  and  Foxes,  when  I  asked  him  whether  he  had  ever 
been  there,  replied — 

“  No,  I  have  never  seen  it ;  it  is  in  our  enemies’  country — I  wish  it  was  in  ours 
— I  would  sell  it  to  the  whites  for  a  great  many  boxes  of  money.” 


195 


west  from  the  Fall  of  St  Anthony,  at  a  distance  of  three  hundred 
miles,  on  the  summit  of  the  dividing  ridge  between  the  St  Peters 
and  the  Missouri  rivers,  being  about  equi-distant  from  either.  This 
dividing  ridge  is  denominated  by  the  French,  the  “Coteau  des 
Prairies,”  and  the  “  Pipe  Stone  Quarry  ”  is  situated  near  its  southern 
extremity,  and  consequently  not  exactly  on  its  highest  elevation,  as 
its  general  course  is  north  and  south,  and  its  southern  extremity 
terminates  in  a  gradual  slope. 

Our  approach  to  it  was  from  the  east,  and  the  ascent,  for  the 
distance  of  fifty  miles,  over  a  continued  succession  of  slopes  and 
terraces,  almost  imperceptibly  rising  one  above  another,  that  seemed 
to  lift  us  to  a  great  height.  The  singular  character  of  this  majestic 
mound,  continues  on  the  west  side,  in  its  descent  toward  the  Missouri. 
There  is  not  a  tree  or  bush  to  be  seen  from  the  highest  summit  of  the 
ridge,  though  the  eye  may  range  east  and  west,  almost  to  a  boundless 
extent,  over  a  surface  covered  with  a  short  grass,  that  is  green  at  one’s 
feet,  and  about  him,  but  changing  to  blue  in  distance,  like  nothing 
but  the  blue  and  vastness  of  the  ocean. 

The  whole  surface  of  this  immense  tract  of  country  is  hard  and 
smooth,  almost  without  stone  or  gravel,  and  coated  with  a  green  turf 
of  grass  of  three  or  four  inches  only  in  height.  Over  this  the  wheels 
of  a  carriage  would  run  as  easily,  for  hundreds  of  miles,  as  they  could 
on  a  Macadamised  road,  and  its  graceful  gradations  would  in  all  parts 
admit  of  a  horse  to  gallop,  with  ease  to  himself  and  his  rider. 

The  full  extent  and  true  character  of  these  vast  prairies  are  but 
imperfectly  understood  by  the  world  yet ;  who  will  agree  with  me 
that  they  are  a  subject  truly  sublime,  for  contemplation,  when  I 
assure  them,  that  “  a  coach  and  four  ”  might  be  driven  with  ease  (with 
the  exception  of  rivers  and  ravines,  which  are  in  many  places  im¬ 
passable),  over  unceasing  fields  of  green,  from  the  Fall  of  St  Anthony 
to  Lord  Selkirk’s  Establishment  on  the  Ked  River,  at  the  north; 
from  that  to  the  mouth  of  Yellow  Stone  on  the  Missouri — thence  to 
the  Platte  —  to  the  Arkansas,  and  Red  Rivers  of  the  south,  and 
through  Texas  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  a  distance  of  more  than  three 
thousand  miles. 

I  mentioned  in  a  former  Letter,  that  we  had  been  arrested  by  the 
Sioux,  on  our  approach  to  this  place,  at  the  trading-post  of  Le  Blanc, 
on  the  banks  of  the  St  Peters ;  and  I  herein  insert  the  most  important 
part  of  the  speeches  made,  and  talks  held  on  that  momentous  occa¬ 
sion,  as  near  as  my  friend  and  I  could  restore  them,  from  partial 
notes  and  recollection.  After  these  copper-visaged  advocates  of 
their  country’s  rights  had  assembled  about  us,  and  filled  up  every 


196 


avenue  of  the  cabin,  the  grave  council  was  opened  in  the  following 
manner : — 

Tc-o-kun-hko  (the  swift  man),  first  rose  and  said : — 

“  My  friends,  I  am  not  a  chief,  but  the  son  of  a  chief — I  am  the 
son  of  my  father — he  is  a  chief — and  when  he  is  gone  away,  it  is  my 
duty  to  speak  for  him — he  is  not  here — but  what  I  say  is  the  talk  of 
his  mouth.  We  have  been  told  that  you  are  going  to  the  Pipe  Stone 
Quarry.  We  come  now  to  ask  for  what  purpose  you  are  going,  and 
what  business  you  have  to  go  there.”  (“  How  !  how !  ”  vociferated 
all  of  them,  thereby  approving  what  was  said,  giving  assent  by  the 
word  how,  which  is  their  word  for  yes.) 

“  Brothers — I  am  a  brave,  but  not  a  chief — my  arrow  stands  in  the 
top  of  the  leaping-rock ;  all  can  see  it,  and  all  know  that  Te-o-kun- 
hko’s  foot  has  been  there.  (‘  How  !  how  !  ’) 

“  Brothers — We  look  at  you  and  we  see  that  you  are  Che-mo-ke-mon 
capitains  (white  men  officers) :  we  know  that  you  have  been  sent  by 
your  Government,  to  see  what  that  place  is  worth,  and  we  think  the 
white  people  want  to  buy  it.  (‘  How  !  how  !  ’) 

“  Brothers — We  have  seen  always  that  the  white  people,  when 
they  see  anything  in  our  country  that  they  want,  send  officers  to 
value  it,  and  then  if  they  can’t  buy  it,  they  will  get  it  some  other 
way.  (‘  How !  how  !  ’) 

“  Brothers — I  speak  strong,  my  heart  is  strong,  and  I  speak  fast : 
this  red  pipe  was  given  to  the  red  men  by  the  Great  Spirit — it  is  a 
part  of  our  flesh,  and  therefore  is  great  medicine.  (‘  How !  how  !  ’) 

“  Brothers — We  know  that  the  whites  are  like  a  great  cloud  that 
rises  in  the  East,  and  will  cover  the  whole  country.  We  know  that 
they  will  have  all  our  lands ;  but,  if  ever  they  get  our  Red  Pipe 
Quarry  they  will  have  to  pay  very  dear  for  it.  (‘  How  !  how  !  how  !  ’) 
“Brothers — We  know  that  no  white  man  has  ever  been  to  the 
Pipe  Stone  Quarry,  and  our  chiefs  have  often  decided  in  council  that 
no  white  man  shall  ever  go  to  it.  (‘  How  !  how  !  ’) 

“  Brothers — You  have  heard  what  I  have  to  say,  and  you  can  go 
no  further,  but  you  must  turn  about  and  go  back.  (‘  How !  how ! 
how !  ’) 

“  Brothers — You  see  that  the  sweat  runs  from  my  face,  for  I  am 
troubled.” 

Then  I  commenced  to  reply  in  the  following  manner : — 

“  My  friends,  I  am  sorry  that  you  have  mistaken  us  so  much,  and 
the  object  of  our  visit  to  your  country.  We  are  not  officers — we  are 
not  sent  by  any  one — we  are  two  poor  men  travelling  to  see  the 
Sioux  and  shake  hands  with  them,  and  examine  what  is  curious  or 


97 


interesting  in  their  country.  This  man  who  is  with  me  is  my  friend ; 
he  is  a  Sa-ga-nosh  (an  Englishman). 

(‘  How  !  how  !  how  !  ’) 

(All  rising  and  shaking  hands  with  him,  and  a  number  of  them 
taking  out  and  showing  British  medals  which  were  carried  in  their 
bosoms.) 

“We  have  heard  that  the  Red  Pipe  Quarry  was  a  great  curiosity, 
and  we  have  started  to  go  to  it,  and  we  will  not  be  stopped.”  (Here 
I  was  interrupted  by  a  grim  and  black-visaged  fellow,  who  shook  his 
long  shaggy  locks  as  he  rose,  with  his  sunken  eyes  fixed  in  direst 
hatred  on  me.  and  his  fist  brandished  within  an  inch  of  my  face.) 

“  Pale  faces  /  you  cannot  speak  till  we  have  all  done ;  you  are 
our  prisoners — our  young  men  (our  soldiers)  are  about  the  house,  and 
you  must  listen  to  what  we  have  to  say.  What  has  been  said  to 
you  is  true,  you  must  go  back.  (‘  How  !  how  !  ’) 

“We  heard  the  word  Saganosh.  and  it  makes  our  hearts  glad;  we 
shook  hand  with  our  brother — his  father  is  our  father — he  is  our 
Great  Father — he  lives  across  the  big  lake — his  son  is  here,  and  we 
are  glad — we  wear  our  Great  Father  the  Sag-a-nosh  on  our  bosoms, 
and  we  keep  his  face  bright  * — we  shake  hands,  but  no  white  man 
has  been  to  the  red  pipe  and  none  shall  go.  (‘  How  !  ’) 

*  Many  and  strong  are  the  recollections  of  the  Sioux  and  other  tribes,  of  their 
alliance  with  the  British  in  the  last  and  revolutionary  wars,  of  which  I  have  met 
many  curious  instances,  one  of  which  was  correctly  reported  in  the  London  Globe, 
from  my  Lectures,  and  I  here  insert  it  — 

THE  GLOBE  AND  TRAVELLER. 

“  Indian  Knowledge  of  English  Affairs. — Mr  Catlin,  in  one  of  his  Lectures  on  the 
manners  and  customs  of  the  North  American  Indians,  during  the  last  week,  related 
a  very  curious  occurrence,  which  excited  a  great  deal  of  surprise  and  some  con¬ 
siderable  mirth  amongst  his  highly  respectable  and  numerous  audience.  Whilst 
speaking  of  the  great  and  warlike  tribe  of  Sioux  or  Dahcotas,  of  40,000  or  50,000, 
he  stated  that  many  of  this  tribe,  as  well  as  of  several  others,  although  living 
entirely  in  the  territory  of  the  United  States,  and  several  hundred  miles  south  of  her 
Majesty’s  possessions,  were  found  cherishing  a  lasting  friendship  for  the  English, 
whom  they  denominate  Saganosh.  And  in  very  many  instances  they  are  to  be 
seen  wearing  about  their  necks  large  silver  medals,  with  the  portrait  ol  George  III. 
in  bold  relief  upon  them.  These  medals  were  given  to  them  as  badges  of  merit 
during  the  last  war  with  the  United  States,  when  these  warriors  were  employed  in 
the  British  service. 

“  The  Lecturer  said,  that  whenever  the  word  Saganosh  was  used,  it  seemed  to 
rouse  them  at  once ;  that  on  several  occasions  when  Englishmen  had  been  in  his 
company  as  fellow-travellers,  they  had  marked  attentions  paid  them  by  these 
Indians  as  Saganoshes.  And  on  one  occasion,  in  one  of  his  last  rambles  in  that 
country,  where  he  had  painted  several  portraits  in  a  small  village  of  Dahcotas,  the 
chief  of  the  band  positively  refused  to  sit ;  alleging  as  his  objection  that  the  pale 
faces,  who  were  not  to  be  trusted,  might  do  some  injury  to  his  portrait,  and  his 


198 


*  You  see  (holding  a  red  pipe  to  the  side  of  his  naked  arm)  that 
this  pipe  is  a  part  of  our  flesh.  The  red  men  are  a  part  of  the  red 
stone.  (‘  How  !  how !  ’) 

“  If  the  white  men  take  away  a  piece  of  the  red  pipe  stone,  it  is 
a  hole  made  in  our  flesh,  and  the  blood  will  always  run.  We  cannot 
stop  the  blood  from  running.  (‘  How  !  how  !  ’) 

“  The  Great  Spirit  has  told  us  that  the  red  stone  is  only  to  be 
used  for  pipes,  and  through  them  we  are  to  smoke  to  him.  (‘  How  !  ’) 
“  Why  do  the  white  men  want  to  get  there  ?  You  have  no  good 
object  in  view  ;  we  know  you  have  none,  and  the  sooner  you  go  back, 
the  better.”  (“  How  !  how !  ”) 

Muz-za  (the  iron)  spoke  next 

“  My  friends,  we  do  not  wish  to  harm  you ;  you  have  heard  the 
words  of  our  chief  men,  and  you  now  see  that  you  must  go  back. 
(‘  How  !  how  !  ’) 

I'chan-dee-jxih-sha-lcah-free  (the  red  pipe  stone)  was  given  to  us 

health  or  his  life  might  be  affected  by  it.  The  painter,  as  he  was  about  to  saddle 
his  horse  for  his  departure,  told  the  Indian  that  he  was  a  Saganosh,  and  was  going 
across  the  Big  Salt  Lake,  and  was  very  sorry  that  he  could  not  carry  the  picture 
of  so  distinguished  a  man.  At  this  intelligence  the  Indian  advanced,  and  after  a 
hearty  grip  of  the  hand,  very  carefully  and  deliberately  withdrew  from  his  bosom, 
and  next  to  his  naked  breast,  a  large  silver  medal,  and  turning  his  face  to  the 
painter,  pronounced  with  great  vehemence  and  emphasis  the  word  Sa-ga-nosh ! 
The  artist,  supposing  that  he  had  thus  gained  his  point  with  the  Indian  Sagamore, 
was  making  preparation  to  proceed  with  his  work,  when  the  Indian  still  firmly 
denied  him  the  privilege — holding  up  the  face  of  his  Majesty  (which  had  got  a 
superlative  brightness  by  having  been  worn  for  years  against  his  naked  breast),  he 
made  this  singular  and  significant  speech  : — ‘  When  you  cross  the  Big  Salt  Lake, 
tell  my  Great  Father  that  you  saw  his  face,  and  it  was  bright !  ’  To  this  the  painter 
replied,  ‘  I  can  never  see  your  Great  Father,  he  is  dead  !  ’  The  poor  Indian  recoiled 
in  silence,  and  returned  his  medal  to  his  bosom,  entered  his  wigwam,  at  a  few  paces 
distant,  where  he  seated  himself  amidst  his  family  around  his  fire,  and  deliberately 
lighting  his  pipe,  passed  it  around  in  silence. 

“  When  it  was  smoked  out  he  told  them  the  news  he  had  heard,  and  in  a  few 
moments,  returned  to  the  traveller  again,  who  was  preparing  with  his  party  to 
mount  their  horses,  and  inquired  whether  the  Saganoshes  had  no  chief.  The  artist 
replied  in  the  affirmative,  saying  that  the  present  chief  of  the  Saganoshes  is  a 
young  and  very  beautiful  woman.  The  Sagamore  expressed  great  surprise  and 
some  incredulity  at  this  unaccountable  information ;  and  being  fully  assured  by  the 
companions  of  the  artist  that  his  assertion  was  true,  the  Indian  returned  again 
quite  hastily  to  his  wigwam,  called  his  own  and  the  neighbouring  families  into  his 
presence,  lit  and  smoked  another  pipe,  and  then  communicated  the  intelligence  to 
them,  to  their  great  surprise  and  amusement ;  after  which  he  walked  out  to  the 
party  about  to  start  off,  and  advancing  to  the  painter  (or  Great  Medicine  as  they 
called  him),  with  a  sarcastic  smile  on  his  face,  in  due  form,  and  with  much  grace 
and  effect,  he  carefully  withdrew  again  from  his  bosom  the  polished  silver  medal, 
and  turning  the  face  to  the  painter,  said,  ‘  Tell  my  Great  Mother,  that  you  saw  our 
Great  Father,  and  that  we  keep  his  face  bright !  ’  ” 


by  the  Great  Spirit,  and  no  one  need  ask  the  price  of  it,  for  it  is 
medicine.  (‘  How  !  how  !  ’) 

“  My  friends,  I  believe  what  you  have  told  us ;  I  think  your 
intentions  are  good ;  but  our  chiefs  have  always  told  us,  that  no  white 
man  was  allowed  to  go  there — and  you  cannot  go.”  (“  How  !  how  !  ”) 

Another. — “  My  friends,  you  see  I  am  a  young  man ;  you  see  on 
my  war-club  two  scalps  from  my  enemies’  heads;  my  hands  have 
been  dipped  in  blood,  but  I  am  a  good  man.  I  am  a  friend  to  the 
whites,  to  the  traders;  and  they  are  your  friends.  I  bring  them 
3000  muskrat  skins  every  year,  which  I  catch  in  my  own  traps. 
(‘  How !  how !  ’) 

“We  love  to  go  to  the  Pipe  Stone,  and  get  a  piece  for  our  pipes; 
but  we  ask  the  Great  Spirit  first.  If  the  white  men  go  to  it,  they 
will  take  it  out,  and  not  fill  up  the  holes  again,  and  the  Great  Spirit 
will  be  offended.”  (“  How  !  how  !  how  !  ”) 

Another. — “  My  friends,  listen  to  me !  what  I  am  to  say  will  be 
the  truth.  (‘  How  !  ’) 

“  I  brought  a  large  piece  of  the  pipe  stone,  and  gave  it  to  a  white 
man  to  make  a  pipe  ;  he  was  our  trader,  and  I  wished  him  to  have 
a  good  pipe.  The  next  time  I  went  to  his  store,  I  was  unhappy 
when  I  saw  that  stone  made  into  a  dish  !  (‘  Eugh !  ’) 

“  This  is  the  way  the  white  men  would  use  the  red  pipe  stone,  if 
they  could  get  it.  Such  conduct  would  offend  the  Great  Spirit,  and 
make  a  red  man’s  heart  sick.  (‘  How  !  how  !  ’) 

“  Brothers,  we  do  not  wish  to  harm  you — if  you  turn  about  and 
go  back,  you  will  be  well,  both  you  and  your  horses — you  cannot  go 
forward.  (‘  How  !  how  !  ’) 

“We  know  that  if  you  go  to  the  pipe  stone,  the  Great  Spirit 
looks  upon  you — the  white  people  do  not  think  of  that.  (‘How! 
how !’) 

“  I  have  no  more  to  say.” 

These,  and  a  dozen  other  speeches  to  the  same  effect,  having 
been  pronounced,  I  replied  in  the  following  manner : — 

“  My  friends,  you  have  entirely  mistaken  us ;  we  are  no  officers, 
nor  are  we  sent  by  any  one — the  white  men  do  not  want  the  red 
pipe — it  is  not  worth  their  carrying  home  so  far,  if  you  were  to  give 
it  all  to  them.  Another  thing,  they  don’t  use  pipes — they  don’t 
know  how  to  smoke  them.” 

“  How  !  how  !  ” 

“  My  friends,  I  think  as  you  do,  that  the  Great  Spirit  has  given 
that  place  to  the  red  men  for  their  pipes.” 

“  How !  how !  how !  ” 


200 


“  I  give  you  great  credit  for  the  course  you  are  taking  to  preserve 
and  protect  it;  and  I  will  do  as  much  as  any  man  to  keep  white 
men  from  taking  it  away  from  you.” 

“  How !  how  !  ” 

“  But  we  have  started  to  go  and  see  it ;  and  we  cannot  think  of 
being  stopped.” 

Another  rose  (interrupting  me) : — 

“  White  men !  your  words  are  very  smooth ;  you  have  some 
object  in  view  or  you  would  not  be  so  determined  to  go — you  have 
no  good  design,  and  the  quicker  you  turn  back  the  better ;  there  is 
no  use  of  talking  any  more  about  it — if  you  think  best  to  go,  try  it ; 
that’s  all  I  have  to  say.”  (“  How  !  how !  ”) 

During  this  scene,  the  son  of  Monsr.  Le  Blanc  was  standing  by, 
and  seeing  this  man  threatening  me  so  hard  by  putting  his  fist  near 
my  face ;  he  several  times  stepped  up  to  him,  and  told  him  to  stand 
back  at  a  respectful  distance,  or  that  he  would  knock  him  down. 
After  their  speaking  was  done,  I  made  a  few  remarks,  stating  that 
we  should  go  ahead,  which  we  did  the  next  morning,  by  saddling 
our  horses  and  riding  off  through  the  midst  of  them,  as  I  have  before 
described. 

Le  Blanc  told  us,  that  these  were  the  most  disorderly  and 
treacherous  part  of  the  Sioux  nation,  that  they  had  repeatedly 
theatened  his  life,  and  that  he  expected  they  would  take  it.  He 
advised  us  to  go  back  as  they  ordered ;  but  we  heeded  not  his 
advice. 

On  our  way  we  were  notified  at  several  of  their  villages  which 
we  passed,  that  we  must  go  back ;  but  we  proceeded  on,  and  over 
a  beautiful  prairie  country,  of  one  hundred  miles  or  more,  when  our 
Indian  guide  brought  us  to  the  trading-house  of  an  old  acquaintance 
of  mine,  Monsieur  La  Fromboise,  who  lives  very  comfortably,  and  in 
the  employment  of  the  American  Fur  Company,  near  the  base  of  the 
Coteau,  and  forty  or  fifty  miles  from  the  Pipe  Stone  Quarry. 

We  rode  up  unexpectedly,  and  at  full  gallop,  to  his  door,  when 
he  met  us  and  addressed  us  as  follows  : — 

“  Ha !  Monsr.  how  do  you  do  ? — Quoi !  ha,  est  ce  vous,  Monsr. 
Cataline — est  il  possible?  Oui,  oui,  vraiment  le  meme — mon  ami, 
Cataline — comment  se  va-t-il?  et  combien  (pardon  me  though,  for 
I  can  speak  English).  How  have  you  been  since  I  saw  you  last 
season?  and  how  under  Heaven,  have  you  wandered  into  this  wild 
region,  so  far  from  civilisation  ?  Dismount,  dismount,  gentlemen, 
and  you  are  welcome  to  the  comforts,  such  as  they  are,  of  my  little 
cabin.” 


201 


“Monsi\  La  Fromboise,  allow  me  to  introduce  to  your  acquaint- 
ance,  my  friend  and  travelling  companion,  Mr  Wood,  of  England.” 

“Monsr.  Wood,  I  am  happy  to  see  you,  and  I  hope  you  will 
make  allowance  for  the  rudeness  of  my  cabin,  and  the  humble 
manner  in  which  I  shall  entertain  you.” 

“I  assure  you,  my  dear  sir,  that  no  apology  is  necessary;  for 
your  house  looks  as  delightful  as  a  palace,  to  Mr  Catlin  and  myself, 
who  have  so  long  been  tenants  of  the  open  air.” 

“  Gentlemen,  walk  in  ;  we  are  surrounded  with  red  folks  here,  and 
you  will  be  looked  upon  by  them  with  great  surprise.” 

“  That’s  what  we  want  to  see  exactly.  Catlin !  that’s  fine — oh  ! 
how  lucky  we  are.” 

“  Well,  gentlemen,  walk  into  the  other  room ;  you  see  I  have  two 
rooms  to  my  house  (or  rather  cabin),  but  they  are  small  and  unhandy. 
Such  as  I  have  shall  be  at  your  service  heartily ;  and  I  assure  you, 
gentlemen,  that  this  is  the  happiest  moment  of  my  life.  I  cannot 
give  you  feather-beds  to  sleep  on ;  but  I  have  a  plenty  of  new  robes, 
and  you,  at  all  events,  Monsr.  Cataline,  know  by  this  time  how  to 
make  a  bed  of  them.  We  can  give  you  plenty  of  buffalo  meat, 
buffalo  tongues,  wild  geese,  ducks,  prairie  hens,  venison,  trout,  young 
swan,  beaver  tails,  pigeons,  plums,  grapes,  young  bear,  some  green 
corn,  squash,  onions,  water-melons,  and  pommes  des  terres,  some 
coffee  and  some  tea.” 

“  My  good  friend,  one-half  or  one-third  of  these  things  (which 
are  all  luxuries  to  us)  would  render  us  happy ;  put  yourself  to  no 
trouble  on  our  account,  and  we  shall  be  perfectly  happy  under  your 

roof.” 

“  I  am  very  sorry,  gentlemen,  that  I  cannot  treat  you  as  I  would 
be  glad  to  do ;  but  you  must  make  up  for  these  things  if  you  are 
fond  of  sporting,  for  there  are  plenty  of  buffaloes  about ;  at  a  little 
distance  the  prairies  are  speckled  with  them ;  and  our  prairies  and 
lakes  abound  with  myriads  of  prairie  hens,  ducks,  geese  and  swan. 
You  shall  make  me  a  long  visit,  gentlemen,  and  we  will  have  sport 
in  abundance.  I  assure  you,  that  I  shall  be  perfectly  happy  whilst 
you  are  with  me.  Pardon  me  a  little,  while  I  order  you  some  dinner, 
and  attend  to  some  Indians  who  are  in  my  store,  trading,  and  taking 
their  fall  credits.” 

“  That’s  a  fine  fellow  I’ll  engage  you,”  said  my  companion. 

“  Yes,  he  is  all  that.  I  have  known  him  before ;  he  is  a  gentle¬ 
man,  and  a  polished  one  too,  every  ounce  of  him.  You  see  in  this 
instance  how  durable  and  lasting  are  the  manners  of  a  true  gentleman, 
and  how  little  a  lifetime  of  immersion  in  the  wilderness,  amid  the 

N* 


202 


reckless  customs  of  savage  life,  will  extinguish  or  efface  them.  I 
could  name  you  a  number  of  such,  whose  surface  seems  covered  with 
a  dross,  which  once  rubbed  off,  shows  a  polish  brighter  than  ever.’ 

We  spent  a  day  or  two  very  pleasantly  with  this  fine  and 
hospitable  fellow,  until  we  had  rested  from  the  fatigue  of  our 
journey;  when  he  very  kindly  joined  us  with  fresh  horses,  and 
piloted  us  to  the  Pipe  Stone  Quarry,  where  he  is  now  encamped  with 
us,  a  jolly  companionable  man,  and  familiar  with  most  of  the  events 
and  traditions  of  this  strange  place,  which  he  has  visited  on  former 
occasions.* 

La  Fromboise  has  some  good  Indian  blood  in  his  veins,  and  from 
his  modes  of  life,  as  well  as  from  a  natural  passion  that  seems  to 
belong  to  the  French  adventurers  in  these  wild  regions,  he  has  a 
great  relish  for  songs  and  stories,  of  which  he  gives  us  many,  and 
much  pleasure ;  and  furnishes  us  one  of  the  most  amusing  and 
gentlemanly  companions  that  could  possibly  be  found.  My  friend 
Wood  sings  delightfully,  also,  and  as  I  cannot  sing,  but  can  tell,  now 
and  then,  a  story,  with  tolerable  effect,  we  manage  to  pass  away  our 
evenings  in  our  humble  bivouack,  over  our  buffalo  meat  and  prairie 
hens,  with  much  fun  and  amusement.  In  these  nocturnal  amuse¬ 
ments,  I  have  done  my  part,  by  relating  anecdotes  of  my  travels  on 
the  Missouri,  and  other  parts  of  the  Indian  country  which  I  have 
been  over ;  and  occasionally  reading  from  my  note-book  some  of  the 
amusing  entries  I  had  formerly  made  in  it,  but  never  have  had  time 
to  transcribe  for  the  world. 

As  I  can’t  write  music,  and  can  (in  my  own  way)  write  a  story, 
the  readers  will  acquit  me  of  egotism  or  partiality,  in  reporting  only 
my  own  ■part  of  the  entertainments ;  which  was  generally  the  mere 
reading  a  story  or  two  from  my  notes  which  I  have  with  me,  or 
relating  some  of  the  incidents  of  life  which  my  old  travelling  com¬ 
panion  “  Ba'tiste  ”  and  I  had  witnessed  in  former  years. 

Of  these,  I  read  one  last  evening,  that  pleased  my  good  friend  La 
Fromboise  so  exceedingly,  that  I  am  constrained  to  copy  it  into  my 
Letter  and  send  it  home. 

This  amusing  story  is  one  that  my  man  Ba’tiste  used  to  tell  to 
Bogard,  and  others  with  great  zest ;  describing  his  adventure  one 
night,  in  endeavouring  to  procure  a  medicine-lag,  which  I  had 
employed  him  to  obtain  for  me  on  the  Upper  Missouri ;  and  he  used 
to  prelude  it  thus : — 

*  This  gentleman,  the  summer  previous  to  this,  while  I  was  in  company  with 
him  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  gave  me  a  very  graphic  account  of  the  Red  Pipe  Stone 
Quarry,  and  made  for  me,  from  recollection,  a  chart  of  it,  which  I  yet  possess,  and 
which  was  drawn  with  great  accuracy. 


203 


“  Je  commence — ” 

*  Dam  your  commonce  (said  Bogard),  tell  it  in  English — “ 

“  Pardon,  Monsieur,  en  Americaine — ” 

“  Well,  American  then,  if  you  please ;  anything  but  your  darned 
'  parlez  vous’  ” 

“Bien,  excusez — now  Monsieur  Bogard,  you  must  know  first 
place,  de  ‘  Medicine-Bags  ’  is  mere  humbug,  he  is  no  medicine  in  him 
— no  pills;  he  is  someting  mysterieux.  Some  witchcraft,  suppose. 
You  must  know  que  tous  les  sauvages  have  such  tings  about  him, 
pour  for  good  luck.  Ce  n’est  que  (pardon)  it  is  only  hocus  pocus,  to 
keep  off  witch,  suppose.  You  must  know,  ces  articles  can  nevare  be 
sold,  of  course  you  see  dey  cannot  be  buy.  So  my  friend  here, 
Monsieur  Cataline,  who  have  collect  all  de  curiosites  des  pays 
sauvages,  avait  made  strong  applique  to  me  pour  for  to  get  one  of 
dese  medicine-lags  for  his  collection  curieux,  et  I  had,  pour  moimeme, 
le  curiosity  extreme  pour  for  to  see  des  quelques  choses  ces  etranges 
looking  tings  was  composi. 

“  I  had  learn  much  of  dese  strange  custom,  and  I  know  wen  de 
Ingin  die,  his  medicine-bags  is  buried  wis  him. 

“  Oui,  Monsieur,  so  it  never  can  be  got  by  any  boday.  Bien.  I 
hap  to  tink  one  day  wen  we  was  live  in  de  mous  of  Yellow  Stone, 
now  is  time,  and  I  avait  said  to  Monsieur  Cataline,  que  pensez  vous ! 
Kon-te-wonda  (un  des  chefs  du)  (pardon,  one  of  de  chiefs,  of  de 
Knisteneux)  has  die  td-day.  II  avait  une  medicine-bag  magnifique, 
et  extremement  curieux ;  il  est  composd  d’un,  it  is  made  (pardon,  si 
vous  plait)  of  de  wite  wolf  skin,  ornement  et  stuff  wid  tousand  tings 
wich  we  shall  see,  ha  ?  Good  luck  !  Suppose  Monsieur  Cataline,  I 
have  seen  him  just  now.  I  av  see  de  medicine-bag  laid  on  his  breast 
avec  his  hands  crossed  ovare  it.  Que  pensez  vous  ?  I  can  get  him 
to-night,  ha  ?  If  you  will  keep  him,  if  you  shall  not  tell,  ha  ?  ’Tis 
no  harm — ’tis  no  steal — he  is  dead,  ha  ?  Well,  you  shall  see.  But, 
would  you  not  be  afraid,  Ba’tiste  (said  Monsieur  Cataline),  to  take 
from  dis  poor  fellow  his  medicines  (or  mysteries)  on  which  he  has 
rest  all  his  hopes  in  dis  world,  and  de  world  to  come  ?  Parddn,  je 
n’ai  pas  peur ;  non,  Monsieur,  ne  rien  de  peur.  I  nevare  saw  ghost 
— I  have  not  fear,  mais,  suppose,  it  is  not  right,  dxact ;  but  I  have 
grand  disposition  pour  for  to  oblige  my  friend,  et  le  curiosity  moimeme, 
pour  to  see  wat  it  is  made  of ;  suppose  td-night  I  shall  go,  ha  ?  ‘  Well, 
Ba’tiste,  I  have  no  objection  (said  Monsieur  Cataline)  if  your  heart 
does  not  fail  you,  for  I  will  be  very  glads  to  get  him,  and  will  make 
you  a  handsome  present  for  it,  but  I  think  it  will  be  a  cold  and  gloomy 
kind  of  business.’  Nevare  mind,  Monsieur  Cataline  (I  said),  provide 


204 


he  is  well  dead ,  perfect  dead  !  Well,  I  had  see  les  Knisteneux  when 
dey  ave  bury  de  chap — I  ave  watch  close,  and  I  ave  see  how  de 
medicine-bags  was  put.  It  was  fix  pretty  tight  by  some  cord  around 
his  bellay,  and  den  some  skins  was  wrap  many  times  around  him — 
he  was  put  down  in  de  hole  dug  for  him,  and  some  flat  stones  and 
some  little  dirt  was  laid  on  him,  only  till  next  day,  wen  some  grand 
ceremonays  was  to  be  perform  ovare  him,  and  den  de  hole  was  to  be 
fill  up ;  now  was  de  only  time  possibe  for  de  medicine-lag,  ha  ?  I  ave 
very  pretty  little  wife  at  dat  times,  Assinneboin  squaw,  and  we  sleep 
in  one  of  de  stores  inside  of  de  Fort,  de  Trade-house,  you  know,  ha  ? 

“  So  you  may  suppose  I  was  all  de  day  perplex  to  know  how  I 
should  go,  somebody  may  watch — suppose  he  may  not  be  dead !  not 
quite  dead,  ha  ?  nevare  mind — le  jour  was  bien  long,  et  le  nuit  dismal, 
dismal  !  oh  by  gar  it  was  dismal  !  plien,  plien  (pardon)  full  of  appre¬ 
hension,  mais  sans^ewr,  je  n  avais  pas  peur  !  So  some  time  aftere  mid¬ 
nights,  wen  it  was  bout  right  time  pour  go,  I  made  start,  very  light, 
so  my  wife  must  not  wake.  Oh  diable  l’imagination  !  quel  solitude  ! 
well,  I  have  go  very  well  yet,  I  am  pass  de  door,  and  I  am  pass  de 
gate,  and  I  am  at  lengts  arrive  at  de  grave !  suppose  ‘  now  Ba’tiste, 
courage,  courage !  now  is  de  times  come.’  Well,  suppose  I  am  not 
fraid  of  dead  man,  mais,  perhaps,  dese  medicine-lag  is  given  by  de 
Grande  Esprit  to  de  Ingin  for  someting  ?  possibe  !  I  will  let  him  keep 
it.  I  shall  go  back !  No,  Monsieur  Cataline  will  laughs  at  me.  I 
must  have  him,  rna  foi,  mon  courage !  so  I  climb  down  very  careful 
into  de  grave,  mais,  as  I  descend,  my  heart  rise  up  into  my  mouse ! 
Oh  mon  Dieu  !  courage  Ba’tiste,  courage  !  ce  n’est  pas  I’homme  dat  I 
fear,  mais  le  medicine,  le  medicine.  So  den  I  ave  lift  out  de  large 
stones,  I  ave  put  out  my  head  in  de  dark,  and  I  ave  look  all  de  contre 
round;  ne  personne,  ne  personne — no  bode  in  sight!  Well,  I  ave 
got  softly  down  on  my  knees  ovare  him  (oh,  courage !  courage  !  oui), 
and  wen  I  ave  unwrap  de  robe,  I  ave  all  de  time  say,  ‘  pardon,  courage! 
pardon,  courage !  ’  until  I  ad  got  de  skins  all  off  de  bod£ ;  I  ave  den 
take  hold  of  de  cord  to  untie,  mais ! !  (dans  1’instant)  two  cold  hands 
seize  me  by  de  wrists!  and  I  was  just  dead— I  was  petrifact  in  one 
instant.  Oh  St  Esprit!  I  could  just  see  in  de  dark  two  eyes  glaring 
like  fire  sur  upon  me !  and  den  (oh,  eugh ! )  it  spoke  to  me,  ‘  Who 
are  you  ?  ’  (Sacrd  vengeance !  it  will  not  do  to  deceive  him,  no),  ‘  I 
am  Ba’tiste,  poor  Ba’tiste !  ’  ‘  Then  thou  art  surely  mine  (as  he 
clenched  both  arms  tight  around  my  boday),  lie  still  Ba’tiste.’  Oh, 
holy  Vierge  !  St  Esprit !  Oh  mon  Dieu !  I  could  not  breathe ! 
miserable !  je  sui  perdu !  oh  pourquoi  have  I  been  such  fool  to  get 
into  dese  cold,  cold  arms  !  ‘  Ba’tiste  ?  (drawing  me  some  tighter  and 


205 


tighter  ? )  do  you  not  belong  to  me,  Ba’tiste  ?  ’  Yes,  suppose  !  oh 
diable !  belong  ?  Oui,  oui,  je  suis  certainment  perdu,  lost,  lost,  for 
evare  !  Oh!  can  you  not  possibe  let  me  go  ?  ‘  No  Ba’tiste,  we  must  never 
part.’  Grand  Dieu!  e’est  finis,  finis,  finis  avec  moi !  ‘Then  you  do 
not  love  me  any  more,  Ba’tiste  ?  ’  Quel !  quoi !  what ! !  est  ce  vous, 
Wee-ne-on-Tca?  ‘  Yes,  Ba’tiste,  it  is  the  Bending  Willow  who  holds 
you,  she  that  loves  you  and  will  not  let  you  go  ?  Are  you  dreaming 
Ba’tiste  ?  ’  Oui,  diable, - !  ” 

“Well,  Ba’tiste,  that’s  a  very  good  story,  and  very  well  told  ;  I 
presume  you  never  tried  again  to  get  a  medicine-bag  ?  ” 

“  Non,  Monsieur  Bogard,  je  vous  assure,  I  was  satisfy  wis  de  mis¬ 
takes  datnight,  pour  for  je  crois  qu’il  fut  l’Esprit,  le  Grand  Esprit.” 

After  this,  my  entertaining  companions  sung  several  amusing 
songs,  and  then  called  upon  me  for  another  story.  Which  Mr  Wood 
had  already  heard  me  tell  several  times,  and  which  he  particularly 
called  for ;  as 

“  THE  STORY  OF  THE  DOG,” 
and  which  I  began  as  follows : — 

“Well,  some  time  ago,  when  I  was  drifting  down  the  mighty 
Missouri,  in  a  little  canoe,  with  two  hired  men,  Bogard  and  Ba’tiste 
(and  in  this  manner  did  we  glide  along),  amid  all  the  pretty  scenes 
and  ugly,  that  decked  the  banks  of  that  river,  from  the  mouth  of  the 
Yellow  Stone,  to  St  Louis,  a  distance  of  only  two  thousand  miles, 
Bogard  and  Ba’tiste  plied  their  paddles  and  I  steered,  amid  snag  and 
sand-bar — amongst  drift  logs  and  herds  of  swimming  buffaloes — our 
beds  were  uniformly  on  the  grass,  or  upon  some  barren  beach,  which 
we  often  chose,  to  avoid  the  suffocating  clouds  of  mosquitoes ;  our  fire 
was  (by  the  way  we  had  none  at  night)  kindled  at  sundown,  under 
some  towering  bluff — our  supper  cooked  and  eaten,  and  wTe  off  again, 
floating  some  four  or  five  miles  after  nightfall,  when  our  canoe  was 
landed  at  random,  on  some  unknown  shore.  In  whispering  silence 
and  darkness  our  buffalo  robes  were  drawn  out  and  spread  upon  the 
grass,  and  our  bodies  stretched  upon  them ;  our  pistols  were  belted 
to  our  sides,  and  our  rifles  always  slept  in  our  arms.  In  this  way 
we  were  encamped,  and  another  robe  drawn  over  us,  head  and  foot, 
under  which  our  iron  slumbers  were  secure  from  the  tread  of  all  foes, 
saving  that  of  the  sneaking  gangs  of  wolves,  who  were  nightly 
serenading  us  with  their  harmonics,  and  often  quarrelling  for  the 
privilege  of  chewing  off  the  corners  of  the  robe,  which  served  us  as  a 
blanket.  ‘  Caleb  ’  (the  grizzly  bear)  was  often  there  too,  leaving  the 
print  of  his  deep  impressed  footsteps  where  he  had  perambulated, 
reconnoitring,  though  not  disturbing  us.  Our  food  was  simply 


206 


buffalo  meat  from  day  to  day,  and  from  morning  till  night,  for  coffee 
and  bread  vve  had  not.  The  fleece  (hump)  of  a  fat  cow,  was  the 
luxury  of  luxuries ;  and  for  it  we  would  step  ashore,  or  as  often  level 
our  rifles  upon  the  ‘  slickest  ’  of  the  herds  from  our  canoe,  as  they 
were  grazing  upon  the  banks.  Sometimes  the  antelope,  the  mountain- 
sheep,  and  so  the  stately  elk  contributed  the  choicest  cuts  for  our 
little  larder;  and  at  others,  while  in  the  vicinity  of  war-parties, 
where  we  dared  not  to  fire  our  guns,  our  boat  was  silently  steered 
into  some  little  cove  or  eddy,  our  hook  and  line  dipped,  and  we 
trusted  to  the  bite  of  a  catfish  for  our  suppers :  if  we  got  him,  he  was 
sometimes  too  large  and  tough;  and  if  we  got  him  not,  we  would 
swear  (not  at  all),  and  go  to  bed. 

“  Our  meals  were  generally  cooked  and  eaten  on  piles  of  drift¬ 
wood,  where  our  fire  was  easily  kindled,  and  a  peeled  log  (which  we 
generally  straddled)  did  admirably  well  for  a  seat,  and  a  table  to  eat 
from. 

“  In  this  manner  did  we  glide  away  from  day  to  day,  with  anec¬ 
dote  and  fun  to  shorten  the  time,  and  just  enough  of  the  spice  of 
danger  to  give  vigour  to  our  stomachs,  and  keenness  to  our  appetites 
— making  and  meeting  accident  and  incident  sufficient  for  a  ‘  book.’ 
Two  hundred  miles  from  the  mouth  of  Yellow  Stone  brought  us  to 
the  village  of  the  kind  and  gentlemanly  Mandans.  With  them  I 
lived  for  some  time — was  welcomed — taken  gracefully  by  the  arm, 
by  their  plumed  dignitaries,  and  feasted  in  their  hospitable  lodges. 
Much  have  I  already  said  of  these  people,  and  more  of  them,  a  great 
deal,  I  may  say  at  a  future  day ;  but  now,  to  our  ‘  story.’  As  pre¬ 
amble,  however,  having  launched  our  light  canoe  at  the  Mandan 
village,  shook  hands  with  the  chiefs  and  braves,  and  took  the  ever¬ 
lasting  farewell  glance  at  those  models,  which  I  wept  to  turn  from ; 
we  dipped  our  paddles,  and  were  again  gliding  off  upon  the  mighty 
water,  on  our  way  to  St  Louis.  We  travelled  fast,  and  just  as  the 
village  of  the  Mandans,  and  the  bold  promontory  on  which  it  stands, 
were  changing  to  blue,  and  ‘  dwindling  into  nothing,’  we  heard  the 
startling  yells,  and  saw  in  distance  behind  us,  the  troop  that  was 
gaining  upon  us !  their  red  shoulders  were  bounding  over  the  grassy 
bluffs — their  hands  extended,  and  robes  waving  with  signals  for  us 
to  stop !  In  a  few  moments  they  were  opposite  to  us  on  the  bank, 
and  I  steered  my  boat  to  the  shore.  They  were  arranged  for  my 
reception,  with  amazement  and  orders  imperative  stamped  on  every 
brow.  ‘ Mi-neek-e-sunk-te-ka ’  (the  mink),  they  exclaimed,  ‘is 
dying !  the  picture  which  you  made  of  her  is  too  much  like  her — 
you  put  so  much  of  her  into  it,  that  when  your  boat  took  it  away' 


207 


from  our  village,  it  drew  a  part  of  her  life  away  with  it — she  is 
bleeding  from  her  mouth — she  is  puking  up  all  her  blood ;  by  taking 
that  away,  you  are  drawing  the  strings  out  of  her  heart,  and  they 
will  soon  break ;  we  must  take  her  picture  back,  and  then  she  will 
get  well — your  medicine  is  great,  it  is  too  great ;  but  we  wish  you. 
well.’  Mr  Kipp,  their  Trader,  came  with  the  party,  and  interpreted 
as  above.  I  unrolled  my  bundle  of  portraits,  and  though  I  was 
unwilling  to  part  with  it  (for  she  was  a  beautiful  girl),  yet  I  placed 
it  in  their  hands,  telling  them  that  I  wished  her  well ;  and  I  was 
exceedingly  glad  to  get  my  boat  peaceably  under  way  again,  and 
into  the  current,  having  taken  another  and  everlasting  shake  of  the 
hands.  They  rode  back  at  full  speed  with  the  portrait;  but  intel¬ 
ligence  which  I  have  since  received  from  there,  informs  me  that  the 
girl  died ;  and  that  I  am  for  ever  to  be  considered  as  the  cause  of  her 
misfortunes.  This  is  not  the  ‘story,’  however,  but  I  will  tell  it  as 
soon  as  I  can  come  to  it.  We  dropped  off,  and  down  the  rolling 
current  again,  from  day  to  day,  until  at  length  the  curling  smoke  of 
the  Eiccarees  announced  their  village  in  view  before  us ! 

“We  trembled  and  quaked,  for  all  boats  not  stoutly  armed,  steal 
by  them  in  the  dead  of  night.  We  muffled  our  paddles,  and  in¬ 
stantly  dropped  under  some  willows,  where  we  listened  to  the  yelping, 
barking  rabble,  until  sable  night  had  drawn  her  curtain  around 
(though  it  was  not  sable,  for  the  moon  arose,  to  our  great  mortifica¬ 
tion  and  alarm,  in  full  splendour  and  brightness),  when,  at  eleven 
o’clock,  we  put  out  to  the  middle  of  the  stream — silenced  our  paddles, 
and  trusted  to  the  current  to  waft  us  by  them.  We  lay  close  in  our 
boat  with  a  pile  of  green  bushes  over  us,  making  us  nothing  in  the 
world  but  a  ‘  floating  tree-top.’  On  the  bank,  in  front  of  the  village, 
was  enacting  at  that  moment,  a  scene  of  the  most  frightful  and  thril¬ 
ling  nature.  An  hundred  torches  were  swung  about  in  all  directions, 
giving  us  a  full  view  of  the  group  that  were  assembled,  and  some 
fresh  scalps  were  hung  on  poles,  and  were  then  going  through  the 
nightly  ceremony  that  is  performed  about  them  for  a  certain  number 
of  nights,  composed  of  the  frightful  and  appalling  shrieks,  and  yells, 
and  gesticulations  of  the  scalp-dance  * 

“  In  addition  to  this  multitude  of  demons  (as  they  looked),  there 
were  some  hundreds  of  cackling  women  and  girls  bathing  in  the 

*  But  a  few  weeks  before  I  left  the  mouth  of  Yellow  Stone,  the  news  arrived 
at  that  place,  that  a  party  of  trappers  and  traders  had  burnt  two  Riccarees  to  death, 
on  the  prairies,  and  M'Kenzie  advised  me  not  to  stop  at  the  Riccaree  village,  but  to 
pass  them  in  the  night ;  and  after  I  had  got  some  hundreds  of  miles  below  them,  I 
learned  that  they  were  dancing  two  white  men’s  scalps  taken  in  revenge  for  that 
inhuman  act. 


208 


river  on  the  edge  of  a  sand-bar,  at  the  lower  end  of  the  village ;  at 
which  place  the  stream  drifted  our  small  craft  in,  close  to  the  shore, 
till  the  moon  lit  their  shoulders,  their  foreheads,  chins,  noses !  and 
they  stood,  half-merged,  like  mermaids,  and  gazed  upon  us !  singing 
‘  Chec-na-see-nun,  chee-na-sce-nun  ke-mon-shoo,  kee-ne-he-na,  ha-way- 
tah  ?  shee-sha,  shee-sha ;  ’  (‘  How  do  you  do,  how  do  you  do  ?  where  are 
you  going,  old  tree  ?  Come  here,  come  here.’)  ‘  Lah-kee-hoon  !  lah- 
lcee-hoon  !  natoh,  calogh  !  ’  (‘A  canoe,  a  canoe  !  see  the  paddle  ! !  ’) 

In  a  moment  the  songs  were  stopped !  the  lights  were  out — the 
village  in  an  instant  was  in  darkness,  and  dogs  were  muzzled !  and 
nimbly  did  our  paddles  ply  the  water,  till  spy-glass  told  us  at  morn¬ 
ing’s  dawn,  that  the  bank  and  boundless  prairies  of  grass  and  green 
that  were  all  around  us,  were  free  from  following  footsteps  of  friend 
or  foe.  A  sleepless  night  had  passed,  and  lightly  tripped  our  bark, 
and  swift,  over  the  swimming  tide  during  that  day ;  which  was  one, 
not  of  pleasure,  but  of  trembling  excitement ;  while  our  eyes  were 
continually  scanning  the  distant  scenes  that  were  behind  us,  and  our 
muscles  throwing  us  forward  with  tireless  energy.  *  * 

# 

Night  came  upon  us  again,  and  we  landed  at  the  foot  of  a  towering 
bluff,  where  the  mosquitoes  met  us  with  ten  thousand  kicks  and 
cuffs,  and  importunities,  until  we  were  choked  and  strangled  into 
almost  irrevocable  despair  and  madness.* 

“A  'snaggy  bend'  announced  its  vicinity  just  below  us  by  its 
roaring ;  and  hovering  night  told  us,  that  we  could  not  with  safety 
‘  undertake  it.’ 

“  The  only  direful  alternative  was  now  in  full  possession  of  us  (I 
am  not  going  to  tell  the  ‘  story  ’  yet),  for  just  below  us  was  a  stately 
bluff  of  200  feet  in  height,  rising  out  of  the  water,  at  an  angle  of 
forty-five  degrees,  entirely  denuded  in  front,  and  constituted  of  clay. 
‘Montons,  montons!’  said  Ba’tiste,  as  he  hastily  clambered  up  its- 
steep  inclined  plane  on  his  hands  and  feet,  over  its  parched  surface, 
which  had  been  dried  in  the  sun,  ‘  essayez,  vous,  essayez !  ce’n’est  pas 
difficile  Monsr.  Cataline,’  exclaimed  he,  from  an  elevation  of  about 
100  feet  from  the  water,  where  he  had  found  a  level  platform,  of 
some  ten  or  fifteen  feet  in  diameter,  and  stood  at  its  brink,  waving 
his  hand  over  the  twilight  landscape  that  lay  in  partial  obscurity 
beneath  him. 

“  ‘  Nous  avons  ici  une  belle  place  pour  for  to  get  some  sligjs,  some 

*  The  greater  part  of  the  world  can  never,  I  am  sure,  justly  appreciate  the  mean¬ 
ing  and  application  of  the  above  sentence,  unless  they  have  an  opportunity  to 
encounter  a  swarm  of  these  tormenting  insects,  on  the  banks  of  the  Missouri  or 
Mississippi  rivers. 


209 


coot  slips,  vare  de  dam  Biccaree  et  de  dam  muskeet  shall  nevare  get 
si  haut,  by  gar !  montez,  montez  en  haut.’ 

“  Bogard  and  I  took  our  buffalo  robes  and  our  rifles,  and  with 
difficulty  hung  and  clung  along  in  the  crevices  with  fingers  and  toes, 
until  we  reached  the  spot.  We  found  ourselves  about  half-way  up 
the  precipice,  which  continued  almost  perpendicular  above  us ;  and 
within  a  few  yards  of  us,  on  each  side,  it  was  one  unbroken  slope 
from  the  bottom  to  the  top.  In  this  snug  little  nook  were  we  most 
appropriately  fixed,  as  we  thought,  for  a  warm  summer’s  night,  out 
of  the  reach  entirely  of  mosquitoes,  and  all  other  earthly  obstacles, 
as  we  supposed,  to  the  approaching  gratification,  for  which  the  toils 
and  fatigues  of  the  preceding  day  and  night,  had  so  admirably  pre¬ 
pared  us.  We  spread  one  of  our  robes,  and  having  ranged  ourselves 
side  by  side  upon  it,  and  drawn  the  other  one  over  us,  we  commenced, 
without  further  delay,  upon  the  pleasurable  forgetfulness  of  toils  and 
dangers  which  had  agitated  us  for  the  past  day  and  night.  We  had 
got  just  about  to  that  stage  of  our  enjoyment  which  is  almost  resist¬ 
less,  and  nearly  bidding  defiance  to  every  worldly  obstrusive  obstacle, 
when  the  pattering  of  rain  on  our  buffalo  robes  opened  our  eyes  to 
the  dismal  scene  that  was  getting  up  about  us !  My  head  was  out, 
and  on  the  watch,  but  the  other  two  skulls  were  flat  upon  the  ground, 
and  there  chained  by  the  unyielding  links  of  iron  slumber.  The 
blackest  of  all  clouds  that  ever  swept  hill  tops  of  grass,  of  clay,  or 
towering  rock,  was  hanging  about  us — its  lightning’s  glare  was 
incessantly  flashing  us  to  blindness ;  and  the  giddy  elevation  on 
which  we  were  perched,  seemed  to  tremble  with  the  roar  and  jar  of 
distant,  and  the  instant  bolts  and  cracks  of  present  thunder !  The 
rain  poured  and  fell  in  torrents  (its  not  enough);  it  seemed  floating 
around  and  above  us  in  waves  succeeding  waves,  which  burst  upon 
the  sides  of  the  immense  avalanche  of  clay  that  was  above,  and  slid 
in  sheets,  upon  us !  Heavens !  what  a  scene  was  here.  The  river 
beneath  us  and  in  distance,  with  windings  infinite,  whitening  into 
silver,  and  trees,  to  deathlike  paleness,  at  the  lightning’s  flash !  All 
about  us  was  drenched  in  rain  and  mud.  At  this  juncture,  poor 
Ba’tiste  was  making  an  effort  to  raise  his  head  and  shoulders — he 
was  in  agony !  he  had  slept  himself,  and  slipt  himself  partly  from 
the  robe,  and  his  elbows  were  fastened  in  the  mud ! 

“  ‘  Oh  sacre,  ’tis  too  bad  by  gar  !  we  can  get  some  slips  nevare.’ 

“  ‘  Ugh !  (replied  Yankee  Bogard)  we  shall  get  “  slips  ”  enough 
directly,  by  darn,  for  we  are  all  afloat,  and  shall  go  into  the  river  by 
and  by,  in  the  twinkling  of  a  goat’s  eye,  if  we  don’t  look  out.’ 

“We  w’ere  nearly  afloat,  sure  enough,  and  our  condition  growing 
VOL.  II.  O 


210 


more  and  more  dreary  every  moment,  and  our  only  alternative  was, 
to  fold  up  our  nether  robe  and  sit  upon  it,  hanging  the  other  one 
over  our  heads,  which  formed  a  roof,  and  shielded  the  rain  from  us. 
To  give  compactness  to  the  trio,  and  bring  us  into  such  shape  as 
would  enable  the  robe  to  protect  us  all,  we  were  obliged  to  put  our 
backs  and  occiputs  together,  and  keep  our  heads  from  nodding.  In 
this  way  we  were  enabled  to  divide  equally  the  robe  that  we  sat 
upon,  as  well  as  receive  mutual  benefit  from  the  one  that  was  above 
us.  We  thus  managed  to  protect  ourselves  in  the  most  important 
points,  leaving  our  feet  and  legs  (from  necessity)  to  the  mercy  of 
mud. 

“  Thus  we  were  re-encamped.  ‘  A  pretty  mess  ’  (said  I),  ‘  we  look 
like  the  “three  graces;” — ‘ de  tree  grace,  by  gar!’  said  Ba’tiste. 
‘  Grace !  (whispered  Bogard)  yes,  it’s  all  grace  here ;  and  I  believe 
we’ll  all  be  buried  in  grace  in  less  than  an  hour.’ 

“  ‘  Monsr.  Cataline !  excusez  my  back,  si  vous  plait.  Bogard  ! 
comment,  comment  ? — bonne  nuit,  Messieurs.  Oh !  mon  Dieu,  mon 
Dieu !  Je  vous  rends  grace — je  vous  prie  pour  for  me  sauver  ce  nuit 
— delivrez  nous!  delivrez  nous!  Je  vous  adore,  Saint  Esprit — la 
Vierge  Marie — oh  je  vous  rends  grace !  pour  for  de  m’avoir  conserve 
from  de  dam  Pdccaree  et  de  diable  muskeet.  Eh  bien !  eh  bien !  ’ 

“  In  this  miserable  and  despairing  mood  poor  Ba’tiste  dropped  off 
gradually  into  a  most  tremendous  sleep,  whilst  Bogard  and  I  were 
holding  on  to  our  corners  of  the  robe — recounting  over  the  dangers 
and  excitements  of  the  day  and  night  past,  as  well  as  other  scenes  of 
our  adventurous  lives,  whilst  we  lay  (or  rather  sat)  looking  at  the 
lightning,  with  our  eyes  shut.  Ba’tiste  snored  louder  and  louder, 
until  sleep  had  got  her  strongest  grip  upon  him ;  and  his  specific 
gravity  became  so  great,  that  he  pitched  forward,  pulling  our  corners 
of  the  robe  nearly  off  from  our  heads,  reducing  us  to  the  necessity  of 
drawing  upon  them  till  we  brought  the  back  of  his  head  in  contact 
with  ours  again,  and  his  body  in  an  erect  posture,  when  he  suddenly 
exclaimed : 

“  ‘  Bon  jour,  Monsr.  Bogard :  bon  jour,  Monsr.  Cataline ;  n’est  ce 
pas  morning,  pretty  near  ?  ’ 

“  ‘  No,  its  about  midnight.’ 

“  ‘  Quel  temps  ?  ’ 

“  ‘  Why,  it  rains  as  hard  as  ever.’ 

“  ‘  Oh  diable,  I  wish  I  was  t6  hell.’ 

“  ‘  You  may  be  there  yet  before  morning,  by  darn.’ 

“  ‘  Parddn,  parddn,  Monsr.  Bogard — I  shall  not  go  to  night,  not 
to  night,  I  was  joke — mais  !  dis  is  not  joke,  suppose — oh  vengeance ! 


211 


I  am  slip  down  considerable — mais  I  shall  not  go  to  hell  quite — I  am 
slip  off  de  seat !  ’ 

“  ‘  What  you  are  sitting  in  the  mud  ?  ’ 

“  ‘  Oui,  Bogard,  in  de  muds !  mais,  I  am  content,  my  head  is  not 
in  de  mud.  You  see,  Bogard,  I  avait  been  sleep,  et  I  raisee  my  head 
pretty  suddain,  and  keepee  my  e  back  e  straight,  et  I  am  slip  off  of  de 
seat.  Now,  Monsr.  Bogard,  you  shall  keepee  you  head  straight  and 

moove - leet,  at  de  bottom  ? - remercie, 

Bogard,  remercie, - eh  bien. - ah  well - 

- ha-ha-h - a — by  gar,  Bogard,  I  have  a  de 

good  joke.  Monsr.  Cataline  will  paintez  my  likeeness  as  I  am  now 
look — he  will  paint  us  all — I  am  tink  he  will  make  putty  coot  view  ? 

ha-ha-ha-a - we  should  see  very  putty  landeescape  aboutee  de  legs, 

ha  ?  Ha - ha - h - a - a.’ 

“  ‘  Oh,  Ba’tiste,  for  Heaven’s  sake  stop  your  laughing  and  go  to 
sleep ;  we’ll  talk  and  laugh  about  this  all  day  to-morrow.’ 

“  ‘  Pardon,  Monsr.  Cataline  (excusez)  have  you  got  some  slips  ?  * 

“  ‘  No,  Ba’tiste,  I  have  not  been  asleep.  Bogard  has  been  enter¬ 
taining  me  these  two  hours  whilst  you  was  asleep,  with  a  description 
of  a  buffalo  hunt  which  took  place  at  the  mouth  of  Yellow  Stone, 
about  a  year  ago.  It  must  have  been  altogether  a  most  splendid  and 
thrilling  scene,  and  I  have  been  paying  the  strictest  attention  to  it, 
for  I  intend  to  write  it  down  and  send  it  to  New  York  for  the  cits 
to  read.’ 

‘“I  like’e  dat  much,  Monsr.  Cataline,  and  I  shall  take  much 
plaisir  pour  vous  donner  to  give  ddscript  of  someting,  provide  you 
will  write  him  down,  ha  ?  ’ 

“‘Well,  Ba’tiste,  go  on,  I  am  endeavouring  to  learn  everything 
that’s  curious  and  entertaining,  belonging  to  this  country.’ 

“  ‘  Well,  Monsr.  Cataline,  I  shall  tell  you  someting  very  much 
entertain,  mais,  but,  you  will  nevare  tell  somebody  how  we  have 
been  fix  to-night  ?  ha  ?  ’ 

“  ‘  No,  Ba’tiste,  most  assuredly  I  shall  never  mention  it  nor  make 
painting  of  it.’ 

“‘Well,  je  commence — diable  Bogard!  you  shall  keep  your  back 
straight  you  must  sit  up,  ou  il  n’est  pas  possibe  for  to  keep  de  robe 
ovare  all.  Je  commence,  Monsr.  Cataline,  to  describe  some  Dog 
Feast,  which  I  attend  among  the  dam  Pieds  noirs.  I  shall  describe 
some  grande,  magnifique  ceremonay,  and  you  will  write  him 
down  ?  ’ 

“  ‘  Yes,  I’ll  put  it  on  paper.’ 

“‘Pardon,  pardon,  I  am  get  most  to  slip,  I  shall  tell  him  to- 


212 


morrow,  perhaps  I  shall - eh  bien ; — but  you  will  nevare  tell 

how  we  look,  ha,  Monsr.  Cataline  ?  ’ 

“  ‘  No,  Ba’tiste,  I’ll  never  mention  it.’ 

“  ‘Eh  bien - bon  nuit.’ 

“  In  this  condition  we  sat,  and  in  this  manner  we  nodded  away 
the  night,  as  far  as  I  recollect  of  it,  catching  the  broken  bits  of  sleep 
(that  were  even  painful  to  us  when  we  got  them),  until  the  morning’s 
rays  at  length  gave  us  a  view  of  the  scene  that  was  around  us ! !  Oh, 
all  ye  brick-makers,  ye  plasterers,  and  soft-soap  manufacturers !  put 
all  your  imaginations  in  a  ferment  together,  and  see  if  ye  can  invent 
a  scene  like  this !  Here  was  a  ‘fix’  to  be  sure.  The  sun  arose  in 
splendour  and  in  full,  upon  this  everlasting  and  boundless  scene  of 
‘  saft  soap  ’  and  grease,  which  admitted  us  not  to  move.  The  whole 
hill  was  constituted  entirely  of  tough  clay,  and  on  each  side  and 
above  us  there  was  no  possibility  of  escape ;  and  one  single  step  over 
the  brink  of  the  place  where  we  had  ascended,  would  inevitably 
have  launched  us  into  the  river  below,  the  distance  of  a  hundred  feet ! 
Here,  looking  like  hogs  just  risen  from  a  mud  puddle,  or  a  buffalo 
hull  in  his  wallow,  we  sat  {and  had  to  sit),  admiring  the  widespread 
and  beautiful  landscape  that  lay  steeping  and  smoking  before  us, 
and  our  little  boat,  that  looked  like  a  nut-shell  beneath  us,  hanging 
at  the  shore ;  telling  stories  and  filling  up  the  while  with  nonsensical 
garrulity  until  the  sun’s  warming  rays  had  licked  up  the  mud,  and 
its  dried  surface,  about  eleven  o’clock,  gave  us  foothold,  when  we 
cautiously,  but  safely  descended  to  the  bottom ;  and  then,  at  the 
last  jump,  which  brought  his  feet  to  terra  firma,  Ba’tiste  exclaimed, 
‘  Well,  we  have  cheatee  de  dam  muskeet,  ha  !  ’  ” 

And  this,  reader,  is  not  “  the  story,”  but  one  of  the  little  incidents 
which  stood  exactly  in  the  way,  and  could  not  well  be  got  over 
without  a  slight  notice,  being  absolutely  necessary,  as  a  key,  or  kind 
of  glossary,  for  the  proper  understanding  of  the  tale  that  is  to  be  told. 
There  is  Hood  and  butchery  in  the  story  that  is  now  to  be  related  ;  and 
it  should  be  read  by  every  one  who  would  form  a  correct  notion  of  the 
force  of  Indian  supersititions. 

Three  mighty  warriors,  proud  and  valiant,  licked  the  dust,  and  all 
in  consequence  of  one  of  the  portraits  I  painted ;  and  as  my  brush 
was  the  prime  mover  of  all  these  misfortunes,  and  my  life  was  sought 
to  heal  the  wound,  I  must  be  supposed  to  be  knowing  to  and  familiar 
with  the  whole  circumstances,  which  were  as — (I  was  going  to  say,  as 
follow) — but  my  want  of  time  and  your  want  of  patience,  compel  me 
to  break  off  here,  and  I  promise  to  go  right  on  with  the  Story  of  the 
Dog  in  my  next  Letter,  and  I  advise  the  reader  not  to  neglect  or 
overlook  it. 


LETTER— No.  55 


RED  PIPE  STONE  QUARRY,  COTEAU  DBS  PRAIRIES 

Well,  to  proceed  with  the  Story  of  the  Dog,  which  I  promised;  after 
which  I  shall  record  the  tale  of  Wi-jun-jon  (the  pigeon’s  egg  head), 
which  was  also  told  by  me  during  the  last  night,  before  we  retired  to 
rest. 

“  I  think  I  said  that  my  little  canoe  had  brought  us  down  the 
Missouri,  about  eight  hundred  miles  below  the  mouth  of  Yellow 
Stone,  when  we  landed  at  Laidlaw’s  Trading-house,  which  is  twelve 
hundred  miles  above  civilisation  and  the  city  of  St  Louis.  If  I  did 
not  say  it,  it  is  no  matter,  for  it  was  even  so;  and  ‘  Ba’tiste  and 
Rogard  who  had  paddled,  and  I  who  had  steered,’  threw  our  little 
bark  out  upon  the  bank,  and  taking  our  paddles  in  our  hands,  and 
our  ‘plunder’  upon  our  backs,  crossed  the  plain  to  the  American  Fur 
Company’s  Fort,  in  charge  of  Mr  Laidlaw,  who  gave  us  a  hearty 
welcome ;  and  placed  us  in  an  instant  at  his  table,  which  happened 
at  that  moment  to  be  stationed  in  the  middle  of  the  floor,  distribut¬ 
ing  to  its  surrounding  guests  the  simple  blessings  which  belong  to 
that  fair  and  silent  land  of  buffalo-tongues  and  beaver’s  tails !  A 
bottle  of  good  Madeira  wine  sprung  (a  l’instant)  upon  the  corner  of 
the  table,  before  us,  and  swore,  point  Hank,  to  the  welcome  that  was 
expressed  in  every  feature  of  our  host.  After  the  usual  salutations, 
the  news,  and  a  glass  of  wine,  Mr  Laidlaw  began  thus  : — ‘  Well,  my 
friend,  you  have  got  along  well,  so  far ;  and  I  am  glad  to  see  you. 
You  have  seen  a  great  many  fine  Indians  since  you  left  here,  and 
have,  no  doubt,  procured  many  interesting  and  valuable  portraits  ; 
but  there  has  been  a  deal  of  trouble  about  the  “pictures’,’  in  this 
neighbourhood,  since  you  went  away.  Of  course,  you  have  heard 
nothing  of  it  at  the  Yellow  Stone ;  but  amongst  us,  I  assure  you, 
there  has  not  a  day  passed  since  you  left,  without  some  fuss  or  excite¬ 
ment  about  the  portraits.  The  “  Dog  ”  is  not  yet  dead,  though  he  has 
been  shot  at  several  times,  and  had  his  left  arm  broken.  The  “  Little 
Bear's”  friends  have  overtaken  the  brother  of  the  Dog,  that  fine 
fellow  whom  you  painted,  and  killed  him !  They  are  now  sensible 
that  they  have  sacrificed  one  of  the  best  men  in  the  nation  for  one 
of  the  greatest  rascals ;  and  they  are  more  desperately  bent  on 

213 


214 


revenge  than  ever.  They  have  made  frequent  inquiries  for  you, 
knowing  that  you  had  gone  up  the  river ;  alleging  that  you  had 
been  the  cause  of  these  deaths,  and  that  if  the  Dog  could  not  be 
found,  they  should  look  to  you  for  a  settlement  of  that  unfortunate 
affair  ! 

“  ‘  That  unlucky  business,  taken  altogether,  has  been  the  greatest 
piece  of  medicine  (mystery),  and  created  the  greatest  excitement 
amongst  the  Sioux,  of  anything  that  has  happened  since  I  came  into 
the  country.  My  dear  sir,  you  must  not  continue  your  voyage  down 
the  river,  in  your  unprotected  condition.  A  large  party  of  the 
“  Little  Bear’s  ”  band,  are  now  encamped  on  the  river  below,  and  for 
you  to  stop  there  (which  you  might  be  obliged  to  do),  would  be  to 
endanger  your  life.’  *  *  *  Header,  sit  still,  and  let  me  change  ends 
with  my  story  (which  is  done  in  one  moment),  and  then,  from  a 
relation  of  the  circumstances  which  elicited  the  friendly  advice  and 
caution  of  Mr  Laidlaw  just  mentioned,  you  will  be  better  enabled  to 
understand  the  nature  of  the  bloody  affair  which  I  am  undertaking 
to  relate. 

“  About  four  months  previous  to  the  moment  I  am  now  speaking 
of,  I  had  passed  up  the  Missouri  river  by  this  place,  on  the  steam¬ 
boat  Yellow  Stone,  on  which  I  ascended  the  Missouri  to  the  mouth  of 
Yellow  Stone  river.  While  going  up,  this  boat,  having  on  board  the 
United  States  Indian  agent,  Major  Sanford — Messrs  Pierre,  Chouteau, 
M'Kenzie  of  the  American  Fur  Company,  and  myself,  as  passengers, 
stopped  at  this  trading-post,  and  remained  several  weeks ;  where  were 
assembled  six  hundred  families  of  Sioux  Indians,  their  tents  being 
pitched  in  close  order  on  an  extensive  prairie  on  the  bank  of  the 
river. 

“  This  trading-post,  in  charge  of  Mr  Laidlaw,  is  the  concentrating 
place,  and  principal  trading  depot,  for  this  powerful  tribe,  who 
number,  when  all  taken  together,  something  like  forty  or  fifty 
thousand.  On  this  occasion,  five  or  six  thousand  had  assembled  to 
see  the  steam-boat  and  meet  the  Indian  agent,  which,  and  whom  they 
knew  were  to  arrive  about  this  time.  During  the  few  weeks  that  we 
remained  there,  I  was  busily  engaged  painting  my  portraits,  for  here 
were  assembled  the  principal  chiefs  and  medicine-men  of  the  nation. 
To  these  people,  the  operations  of  my  brush  were  entirely  new  and 
unaccountable,  and  excited  amongst  them  the  greatest  curiosity 
imaginable.  Everything  else  (even  the  steam-boat)  was  abandoned 
for  the  pleasure  of  crowding  into  my  painting-room,  and  witnessing 
the  result  of  each  fellow’s  success,  as  he  came  out  from  under  the 
operation  of  my  brush. 


215 


“  They  had  been  at  first  much  afraid  of  the  consequences  that 
might  flow  from  so  strange  and  unaccountable  an  operation;  but 
having  been  made  to  understand  my  views,  they  began  to  look  upon 
it  as  a  great  honour,  and  afforded  me  the  opportunities  that  I  desired ; 
exhibiting  the  utmost  degree  of  vanity  for  their  appearance,  both  as 
to  features  and  dress.  The  consequence  was,  that  my  room  was  filled 
with  the  chiefs  who  sat  around,  arranged  according  to  the  rank  or 
grade  which  they  held  in  the  estimation  of  their  tribe ;  and  in  this 
order  it  became  necessary  for  me  to  paint  them,  to  the  exclusion  of 
those  who  never  signalised  themselves,  and  were  without  any  dis¬ 
tinguishing  character  in  society. 

“  The  first  man  on  the  list,  was  Ha-wan-glice-ta  (one  horn),  head- 
chief  of  the  nation,  of  whom  I  have  heretofore  spoken  ;  and  after  him 
the  subordinate  chiefs,  or  chiefs  of  bands,  according  to  the  estimation 
in  which  they  were  held  by  the  chief  and  the  tribe.  My  models  were 
thus  placed  before  me,  whether  ugly  or  beautiful,  all  the  same,  and  I 
saw  at  once  there  was  to  be  trouble  somewhere,  as  I  could  not  paint 
them  all.  The  medicine-men  or  high  priests,  who  are  esteemed  by 
many  the  oracles  of  the  nation,  and  the  most  important  men  in  it — 
becoming  jealous,  commenced  their  harangues,  outside  of  the  lodge, 
telling  them  that  they  were  all  fools — that  those  who  were  painted 
would  soon  die  in  consequence ;  and  that  these  pictures,  which  had 
life  to  a  considerable  degree  in  them,  would  live  in  the  hands  of  white 
men  after  they  were  dead,  and  make  them  sleepless  and  endless 
trouble. 

“  Those  whom  I  had  painted,  though  evidently  somewhat  alarmed, 
were  unwilling  to  acknowledge  it,  and  those  whom  I  had  not  painted, 
unwilling  to  be  outdone  in  courage,  allowed  me  the  privilege ;  braving 
and  defying  the  danger  that  they  were  evidently  more  or  less  in  dread 
of.  Feuds  began  to  arise  too,  among  some  of  the  chiefs  of  the  different 
bands,  who  (not  unlike  some  instances  amongst  the  chiefs  and  warriors 
of  our  own  country),  had  looked  upon  their  rival  chiefs  with  unsleep¬ 
ing  jealousy,  until  it  had  grown  into  disrespect  and  enmity.  An 
instance  of  this  kind  presented  itself  at  this  critical  juncture,  in  this 
assembly  of  inflammable  spirits,  which  changed  in  a  moment,  its 
features,  from  the  free  and  jocular  garrulity  of  an  Indian  levee,  to 
the  frightful  yells  and  agitated  treads  and  starts  of  an  Indian  battle ! 
I  had  in  progress  at  this  time  a  portrait  of  Mah-to-tchee-ga  (little 
bear) ;  of  the  Onc-pa-pa  band,  a  noble  fine  fellow,  who  was  sitting 
before  me  as  I  was  painting  (Fig.  273).  I  was  painting  almost  a 
profile  view  of  his  face,  throwing  a  part  of  it  into  shadow,  and  had  it 
nearly  finished,  when  an  Indian  by  the  name  of  Shon-lca  (the  dog), 


216 


chief  of  the  Caz-a-zshee-ta  band  (Fig.  275),  an  ill-natured  and  surly 
man — despised  by  the  chiefs  of  every  other  band,  entered  the  wigwam 
in  a  sullen  mood,  and  seated  himself  on  the  floor  in  front  of  my  sitter, 
where  he  could  have  a  full  view  of  the  picture  in  its  operation. 
After  sitting  awhile  with  his  arms  folded,  and  his  lips  stiffly  arched 
with  contempt ;  he  sneeringly  spoke  thus : — ■ 

“  ‘  Mah-to-tcliee-ga  is  but  half  a  man.’  *  *  *  * 

*  *  *  Dead  silence  ensued  for  a  moment,  and  nought 

was  in  motion  save  the  eyes  of  the  chiefs,  who  were  seated  around 
the  room,  and  darting  their  glances  about  upon  each  other  in  listless 
anxiety  to  hear  the  sequel  that  was  to  follow !  During  this  interval, 
the  eyes  of  Mah-to-tchee-ga  had  not  moved — his  lips  became  slightly 
curved,  and  he  pleasantly  asked,  in  low  and  steady  accent,  ‘  Who  says 
that  ?  ’  ‘  Slion-ha  says  it,’  was  the  reply ;  ‘  and  Shon-ka  can  prove  it.’ 

At  this  the  eyes  of  Mah-to-tchee-ga,  which  had  not  yet  moved,  began 
steadily  to  turn,  and  slow,  as  if  upon  pivots,  and  when  they  were 
rolled  out  of  their  sockets  till  they  had  fixed  upon  the  object  of  their 
contempt;  his  dark  and  jutting  brows  were  shoving  down  in  trem¬ 
bling  contention,  with  the  blazing  rays  that  were  actually  burning 
with  contempt,  the  object  that  was  before  them.  *  Why  does 
Shon-ka  say  it  ?  ’ 

“‘Ask  We-chash-a-wa-kon  (the  painter),  he  can  tell  you;  he 
knows  you  are  but  half  a  man — he  has  painted  but  one  half  of  your 
face,  and  knows  the  other  half  is  good  for  nothing !  ’ 

“  ‘  Let  the  painter  say  it,  and  I  will  believe  it ;  but  when  the  Dog 
says  it  let  him  prove  it.’ 

“  ‘  Shon-ka  said  it,  and  Shon-ka  can  prove  it ;  if  Mah-to-tchee-ga  be 
a  man,  and  wants  to  be  honoured  by  the  white  men,  let  him  not  be 
ashamed ;  but  let  him  do  as  Shon-ka  has  done,  give  the  white  man  a 
horse,  and  then  let  him  see  the  whole  of  your  face  without  being 
ashamed.’ 

“  ‘  When  Mah-to-tchee-ga  kills  a  white  man  and  steals  his  horses,  he 
may  be  ashamed  to  look  at  a  white  man  until  he  brings  him  a  horse ! 
When  Mah-to-tchee-ga  waylays  and  murders  an  honourable  and  a 
brave  Sioux,  because  he  is  a  coward  and  not  brave  enough  to  meet 
him  in  fair  combat,  then  he  may  be  ashamed  to  look  at  a  white  man 
till  he  has  given  him  a  horse  !  Mah-to-tcliee-ga  can  look  at  any  one ; 
and  he  is  now  looking  at  an  old  woman  and  a  coward  l  ’ 

“  This  repartee,  which  had  lasted  for  a  few  minutes,  to  the  amuse¬ 
ment  and  excitement  of  the  chiefs,  being  ended  thus : — The  Dog  rose 
suddenly  from  the  ground,  and  wrapping  himself  in  his  robe,  left  the 
wigwam,  considerably  agitated,  having  the  laugh  of  all  the  chiefs 
upon  him. 


217 


“  The  Little  Bear  had  followed  him  with  his  piercing  eyes  until 
he  left  the  door,  and  then  pleasantly  and  unmoved,  resumed  his 
position,  where  he  sat  a  few  minutes  longer,  until  the  portrait  was 
completed.  He  then  rose,  and  in  the  most  graceful  and  gentlemanly 
manner,  presented  to  me  a  very  beautiful  shirt  of  buckskin,  richly 
garnished  with  quills  of  the  porcupine,  fringed  with  scalp-locks 
(honourable  memorials)  from  his  enemies’  heads,  and  painted,  with 
all  his  battles  emblazoned  on  it.  He  then  left  my  wigwam,  and  a 
few  steps  brought  him  to  the  door  of  his  own,  where  the  Dog  inter¬ 
cepted  him,  and  asked,  ‘  What  meant  Mah-to-tclice-ga  by  the  last 
words  that  he  spoke  to  Shon-lca?’  '  Mah-to-tchce-ga  said  it,  and 
Shon-lca  is  not  a  fool — that  is  enough.’  At  this  the  Dog  walked 
violently  to  his  own  lodge ;  and  the  Little  Bear  retreated  into  his, 
both  knowing  from  looks  and  gestures  what  was  about  to  be  the 
consequence  of  their  altercation. 

“  The  Little  Bear  instantly  charged  his  gun,  and  then  (as  their 
custom  is)  threw  himself  upon  his  face,  in  humble  supplication  to 
the  Great  Spirit  for  his  aid  and  protection.  His  wife,  in  the  mean¬ 
time,  seeing  him  agitated,  and  fearing  some  evil  consequences,  without 
knowing  anything  of  the  preliminaries,  secretly  withdrew  the  bullet 
from  his  gun,  and  told  him  not  of  it. 

“  The  Dog’s  voice,  at  this  moment,  was  heard,  and  recognised  at 
the  door  of  Mah-to-tchee-ga’s  lodge  :  ‘  If  Mah-to-tchee-ga  be  a  whole 
man,  let  him  come  out  and  prove  it ;  it  is  Shon-lca  that  calls  him !  ’ 

“  His  wife  screamed ;  but  it  was  too  late.  The  gun  was  in  his 
hand,  and  he  sprang  out  of  the  door — both  drew  and  simultaneously 
fired  !  The  Dog  fled  uninjured  ;  but  the  Little  Bear  lay  weltering  in 
his  blood  (strange  to  say !)  with  all  that  side  of  his  face  entirely  shot 
away  which  had  been  left  out  of  the  picture ;  and,  according  to  the 
prediction  of  the  Dog,  'good  for  nothing ’ ;  carrying  away  one  half  of 
the  jaws,  and  the  flesh  from  the  nostrils  and  corner  of  the  mouth,  to 
the  ear,  including  one  eye,  and  leaving  the  jugular  vein  entirely 
exposed.  Here  was  a  ‘  coup  ’ ;  and  any  one  accustomed  to  the  thrill¬ 
ing  excitement  that  such  scenes  produce  in  an  Indian  village,  can 
form  some  idea  of  the  frightful  agitation  amidst  several  thousand 
Indians,  who  were  divided  into  jealous  bands  or  clans,  under  ambitious 
and  rival  chiefs !  In  one  minute,  a  thousand  guns  and  bows  were 
seized  !  A  thousand  thrilling  yells  were  raised  ;  and  many  were  the 
fierce  and  darting  warriors  who  sallied  round  the  Dog  for  his  protec¬ 
tion — he  fled  amidst  a  shower  of  bullets  and  arrows  ;  but  his  braves 
were  about  him  ?  The  blood  of  the  Onc-pa-pas  was  roused,  and  the 
indignant  braves  of  that  gallant  band  rushed  forth  from  all  quarters, 

Q* 


218 


and,  swift  upon  their  heels,  were  hot  for  vengeance !  On  the  plain, 
and  in  full  view  of  us,  for  some  time,  the  whizzing  arrows  flew,  and 
so  did  bullets,  until  the  Dog  and  his  brave  followers  were  lost  in 
distance  on  the  prairie !  In  this  rencontre,  the  Dog  had  his  left  arm 
broken ;  but  succeeded,  at  length,  in  making  his  escape. 

“  On  the  next  day  after  this  affair  took  place,  the  Little  Bear  died 
of  his  wound,  and  was  buried  amidst  the  most  pitiful  and  heart¬ 
rending  cries  of  his  distracted  wife,  whose  grief  was  inconsolable  at 
the  thought  of  having  been  herself  the  immediate  and  innocent  cause 
of  his  death,  by  depriving  him  of  his  supposed  protection. 

“  This  marvellous  and  fatal  transaction  was  soon  talked  through 
the  village,  and  the  eyes  of  all  this  superstitious  multitude  were  fixed 
upon  me  as  the  cause  of  the  calamity — my  paintings  and  brushes 
were  instantly  packed,  and  all  hands,  both  Traders  and  Travellers, 
assumed  at  once  a  posture  of  defence. 

“I  evaded,  no  doubt,  in  a  great  measure,  the  concentration  of 
their  immediate  censure  upon  me,  by  expressions  of  great  condolence, 
and  by  distributing  liberal  presents  to  the  wife  and  relations  of  the 
deceased ;  and  by  uniting  also  with  Mr  Laidlaw  and  the  other  gentle¬ 
men,  in  giving  him  honourable  burial,  where  we  placed  over  his  grave 
a  handsome  Sioux  lodge,  and  hung  a  white  flag  to  wave  over  it. 

“  On  this  occasion,  many  were  the  tears  that  were  shed  for  the 
brave  and  honourable  Mah-to-tchee-ga,  and  all  the  warriors  of  his 
band  swore  sleepless  vengeance  on  the  Dog,  until  his  life  should 
answer  for  the  loss  of  their  chief  and  leader. 

“On  the  day  that  he  was  buried,  I  started  for  the  mouth  of 
Yellow  Stone,  and  while  I  was  gone,  the  spirit  of  vengeance  had  per¬ 
vaded  nearly  all  the  Sioux  country  in  search  of  the  Dog,  who  had 
evaded  pursuit.  His  brother,  however  (Fig.  274),  a  noble  and 
honourable  fellow,  esteemed  by  all  who  knew  him,  fell  in  their  way 
in  an  unlucky  hour,  when  their  thirst  for  vengeance  was  irresistible, 
and  they  slew  him.  Repentance  deep,  and  grief  were  the  result  of 
so  rash  an  act,  when  they  beheld  a  brave  and  worthy  man  fall  for 
so  worthless  a  character ;  and  as  they  became  exasperated,  the  spirit 
of  revenge  grew  more  desperate  than  ever,  and  they  swore  they 
never  would  lay  down  their  arms  or  embrace  their  wives  and  children 
until  vengeance,  full  and  complete,  should  light  upon  the  head  that 
deserved  it.  This  brings  us  again  to  the  first  part  of  my  story,  and 
in  this  state  were  things  in  that  part  of  the  country,  when  I  was 
descending  the  river,  four  months  afterwards,  and  landed  my  canoe 
as  I  before  stated,  at  Laidlaw’s  trading-house. 

“The  excitement  had  been  kept  up  all  summer  amongst  these 


219 


people,  and  their  superstitions  bloated  to  the  full  brim,  from 
circumstances  so  well  calculated  to  feed  and  increase  them.  Many 
of  them  looked  to  me  at  once  as  the  author  of  all  these  disasters, 
considering  I  knew  that  one  half  of  the  man’s  face  was  good  for 
nothing,  or  that  I  would  not  have  left  it  out  of  the  picture,  and  that 
I  must  therefore  have  foreknown  the  evils  that  were  to  flow  from  the 
omission ;  they  consequently  resolved  that  I  was  a  dangerous  man, 
and  should  suffer  for  my  temerity  in  case  the  Dog  could  not  be 
found.  Councils  had  been  held,  and  in  all  the  solemnity  of  Indian 
medicine  and  mystery,  I  had  been  doomed  to  die !  At  one  of  these, 
a  young  warrior  of  the  Onc-pa-pa  band,  arose  and  said,  ‘  the  blood  of 
two  chiefs  has  just  sunk  into  the  ground,  and  a  hundred  bows  are 
bent  which  are  ready  to  shed  more  !  on  whom  shall  we  bend  them? 
I  am  a  friend  to  the  white  men,  but  here  is  one  whose  medicine  is 
too  great — he  is  a  great  medicine-man  !  his  medicine  is  too  great ! 
he  was  the  death  of  Mah-to-tchee-ga !  he  made  only  one  side  of  his 
face  !  he  would  not  make  the  other — the  side  that  he  made  was 
alive ;  the  other  was  dead,  and  Shon-ka  shot  it  off !  How  is  this  ? 
Who  is  to  die  ?  ’ 

“After  him  Tah-zee-kce-da-cha  (torn  belly),  of  the  Yancton  band, 
arose  and  said  ‘  Father,  this  medicine-man  has  done  much  harm ! 
You  told  our  chiefs  and  warriors,  that  they  must  be  painted — you 
said  he  was  a  good  man,  and  we  believed  you ! — you  thought  so,  my 
father,  but  you  see  what  he  has  done ! — he  looks  at  our  chiefs  and 
our  women  and  then  makes  them  alive ! !  In  this  way  he  has  taken 
our  chiefs  away,  and  he  can  trouble  their  spirits  when  they  are 
dead  ! — they  will  be  unhappy.  If  he  can  make  them  alive  by  looking 
at  them,  he  can  do  us  much  harm !  you  tell  us  that  they  are  not 
alive — we  see  their  eyes  move ! — their  eyes  follow  us  wherever  we 
go,  that  is  enough?  I  have  no  more  to  say!’  After  him,  rose  a 
young  man  of  the  Onc-pa-pa  band.  ‘Father  you  know  that  I  am 
the  brother  of  Mah-to-tchee-ga  ! — you  know  that  I  loved  him — both 
sides  of  his  face  were  good,  and  the  medicine-man  knew  it  also ! 
Why  was  half  of  his  face  left  out?  He  never  was  ashamed,  but 
always  looked  white  man  in  the  face !  Why  was  that  side  of  his  face 
shot  off  ?  Your  friend  is  not  our  friend,  and  has  forfeited  his  life — 
we  want  you  to  tell  us  where  he  is — we  want  to  see  him  !  ’ 

“  Then  rose  Toh-ki-e-to  (a  medicine-man)  of  the  Yankton  band, 
and  principal  orator  of  the  nation.  ‘  My  friend,  these  are  young  men 
that  speak — I  am  not  afraid !  your  white  medicine-man  painted  my 
picture,  and  it  was  good — I  am  glad  of  it — I  am  very  glad  to  see 
that  I  shall  live  after  I  am  dead  ! — I  am  old  and  not  afraid ! — some 


220 


of  our  young  men  are  foolish.  I  know  that  this  man  put  many  of 
our  buffaloes  in  his  booh  !  for  I  was  with  him,  and  we  have  had  no 
buffaloes  since  to  eat,  it  is  true — but  I  am  not  afraid  ! !  his  medicine  is 
great  and  I  wish  him  well — we  are  friends  !  ’ 

“  In  this  wise  was  the  subject  discussed  by  these  superstitious 
people  during  my  absence,  and  such  were  the  reasons  given  by  my 
friend  Mr  Laidlaw,  for  his  friendly  advice;  wherein  he  cautioned 
me  against  exposing  my  life  in  their  hands,  advising  me  to  take 
some  other  route  than  that  which  I  was  pursuing  down  the  river, 
where  I  would  find  encamped  at  the  mouth  of  Cabri  river,  eighty 
miles  below,  several  hundred  Indians  belonging  to  the  Little  Bear’s 
band,  and  I  might  possibly  fall  a  victim  to  their  unsatiated  revenge. 
I  resumed  my  downward  voyage  in  a  few  days,  however,  with  my 
little  canoe,  which  ‘  Ba’tiste  and  Bogard  paddled  and  I  steered,’  and 
passed  their  encampment  in  peace,  by  taking  the  opposite  shore. 
The  usual  friendly  invitation,  however,  was  given  (which  is  customary 
on  that  river),  by  skipping  several  rifle  bullets  across  the  river,  a 
rod  or  two  ahead  of  us.  To  those  invitations  we  paid  no  attention, 
and  (not  suspecting  who  we  were),  they  allowed  us  to  pursue  our 
course  in  peace  and  security.  Thus  rested  the  affair  of  the  Dog  and  its 
consequences,  until  I  conversed  with  Major  Bean,  the  agent  for  these 
people,  who  arrived  in  St  Louis  some  weeks  after  I  did,  bringing 
later  intelligence  from  them,  assuring  me  that  ‘the  Dog  had  at 
length  been  overtaken  and  hilled,  near  the  Black -hills,  and  that  the 
affair  might  now  for  ever  be  considered  as  settled.’  ” 

Thus  happened  and  thus  terminated  the  affair  of  “the  Dog,” 
wherein  had  fallen  three  distinguished  warriors ;  and  wherein  might 
have  fallen  one  “great  medicine-man  /”  and  all  in  consequence  of  the 
operations  of  my  brush.  The  portraits  of  the  three  first  named  will 
long  hang  in  my  Gallery  for  the  world  to  gaze  upon ;  and  the  head 
of  the  latter  (whose  hair  yet  remains  on  it),  may  probably  be  seen 
(for  a  time  yet)  occasionally  stalking  about  in  the  midst  of  this 
Collection  of  Nature’s  dignitaries. 

The  circumstances  above  detailed,  are  as  correctly  given  as  I 
could  furnish  them !  and  they  have  doubtless  given  birth  to  one  of 
the  most  wonderful  traditions,  which  will  be  told  and  sung  amongst 
the  Sioux  Indians  from  age  to  age ;  furnishing  one  of  the  rarest 
instances,  perhaps,  on  record,  of  the  extent  to  which  these  people 
may  be  carried  by  the  force  of  their  superstitions. 

After  I  had  related  this  curious  and  unfortunate  affair,  I  was 
called  upon  to  proceed  at  once  with  the 


221 


STORY  OF  WI-JUN-JON  (THE  PIGEON’S  EGG  HEAD), 

and  I  recited  it  as  I  first  told  it  to  poor  Ba’tiste,  on  a  former  occasion, 
which  was  as  follows  : — 

“Well,  Ba’tiste,  I  promised  last  night,  as  you  were  going  to  sleep, 
that  I  would  tell  you  a  story  this  morning — did  I  not  ? 

“  ‘  Oui,  Monsieur,  oui — de  “  Pigeon’s  Head.”  ’ 

“No,  Ba’tiste,  the  ‘  Pigeon’s  Egg  Head.’ 

“  ‘  Well,  den,  Monsieur  Cataline,  de  “  Pigeon  Egg’s  Head.”  ’ 

“No,  Ba’tiste,  you  have  it  wrong  yet.  The  Pigeon’s  Egg  Head. 

“  ‘  Sacre — well,  “  Pe — jonse — ec — head.”  ’ 

“  Eight,  Ba’tiste.  Now  you  shall  hear  the  ‘  Story  of  the  Pigeon’s 
Egg  Head.’ 

“  The  Indian  name  of  this  man  (being  its  literal  translation  into 
the  Assinnehoin  language)  was  Wi-jun-jon. 

“  ‘  Wat !  comment !  by  gar  (parddn) ;  not  Wi-jun-jon,  le  frere  de 
rna  douce  Wce-ne-on-ka,  fils  du  chef  Assinnehoin  ?  But  excusez  ;  go 
on,  s’il  vous  plait.’ 

“  Wi-jun-jon  (the  Pigeon’s  Egg  Head)  was  a  brave  and  a  warrior 
of  the  Assinneboins — young — proud — handsome — valiant,  and  grace¬ 
ful.  He  had  fought  many  a  battle,  and  won  many  a  laurel.  The 
numerous  scalps  from  his  enemies’  heads  adorned  his  dress,  and  his 
claims  were  fair  and  just  for  the  highest  honours  that  this  country 
could  bestow  upon  him ;  for  his  father  was  chief  of  the  nation. 

“  ‘  Le  meme  !  de  same — mon  frere — mon  ami !  Bien,  I  am  com¬ 
pose  ;  go  on,  Monsieur.’ 

“Well,  this  young  Assinnehoin,  the  ‘Pigeon’s  Egg  Head,’  was 
selected  by  Major  Sanford,  the  Indian  Agent,  to  represent  his 
tribe  in  a  delegation  which  visited  Washington  City  under  his 
charge  in  the  winter  of  1832.  With  this  gentleman,  the  Assinne- 
boin,  together  with  representatives  from  several  others  of  those 
North-Western  tribes,  descended  the  Missouri  river,  several  thousand 
miles,  on  their  way  to  Washington. 

“  While  descending  the  river  in  a  Mackinaw  boat,  from  the  mouth 
of  Yellow  Stone,  Wi-jun-jon  and  another  of  his  tribe  who  wTas  with 
him,  at  the  first  approach  to  the  civilised  settlements,  commenced  a 
register  of  the  white  men’s  houses  (or  cabins),  by  cutting  a  notch  for 
each  on  the  side  of  a  pipe-stem,  in  order  to  be  able  to  show  when 
they  got  home,  how  many  white  men’s  houses  they  saw  on  their 
journey.  At  first  the  cabins  were  scarce ;  but  continually  as  they 
advanced  down  the  river,  more  and  more  rapidly  increased  in 
numbers;  and  they  soon  found  their  pipe-stem  filled  with  marks, 


222 


and  they  determined  to  put  the  rest  of  them  on  the  handle  of  a  war- 
club,  which  they  soon  got  marked  all  over  likewise ;  and  at  length, 
while  the  boat  was  moored  at  the  shore  for  the  purpose  of  cooking 
the  dinner  of  the  party,  Wi-jun-jon  and  his  companion  stepped  into 
the  bushes,  and  cut  a  long  stick,  from  which  they  peeled  the  bark ; 
and  when  the  boat  was  again  under  weigh,  they  sat  down,  and  with 
much  labour,  copied  the  notches  on  to  it  from  the  pipe-stem  and 
club;  and  also  kept  adding  a  notch  for  every  house  they  passed. 
This  stick  was  soon  filled ;  and  in  a  day  or  two  several  others ;  when, 
at  last,  they  seemed  much  at  a  loss  to  know  what  to  do  with  their 
troublesome  records,  until  they  came  in  sight  of  St  Louis,  which  is  a 
town  of  15,000  inhabitants ;  upon  which,  after  consulting  a  little, 
they  pitched  their  sticks  overboard  into  the  river ! 

“  I  was  in  St  Louis  at  the  time  of  their  arrival,  and  painted  their 
portraits  while  they  rested  in  that  place.  Wi-jun-jon  was  the  first, 
who  reluctantly  yielded  to  the  solicitations  of  the  Indian  agent  and 
myself,  and  appeared  as  sullen  as  death  in  my  painting-room — with 
eyes  fixed  like  those  of  a  statue  upon  me,  though  his  pride  had 
plumed  and  tinted  him  in  all  the  freshness  and  brilliancy  of  an 
Indian’s  toilet.  In  his  nature’s  uncowering  pride  he  stood  a  perfect 
model ;  but  superstition  had  hung  a  lingering  curve  upon  his  lip,  and 
pride  had  stiffened  it  into  contempt.  He  had  been  urged  into  a 
measure,  against  which  his  fears  had  pleaded  ;  yet  he  stood  unmoved 
and  unflinching  amid  the  struggles  of  mysteries  that  were  hovering 
about  him,  foreboding  ills  of  every  kind,  and  misfortunes  that  were 
to  happen  to  him  in  consequence  of  this  operation. 

“  He  was  dressed  in  his  native  costume,  which  was  classic  and 
exceedingly  beautiful  (Fig.  271);  his  leggings  and  shirt  were  of  the 
mountain-goat  skin,  richly  garnished  with  quills  of  the  porcupine, 
and  fringed  with  locks  of  scalps,  taken  from  his  enemies’  heads. 
Over  these  floated  his  long  hair  in  plaits,  that  fell  nearly  to  the 
ground ;  his  head  was  decked  with  the  war-eagle’s  plumes — his  robe 
was  of  the  skin  of  the  young  buffalo  bull,  richly  garnished  and  em¬ 
blazoned  with  the  battles  of  his  life ;  his  quiver  and  bow  were  slung, 
and  his  shield,  of  the  skin  of  the  bull’s  neck. 

“  I  painted  him  in  this  beautiful  dress,  and  so  also  the  others  who 
were  with  him ;  and  after  I  had  done,  Major  Sanford  went  on  to 
Washington  with  them,  where  they  spent  the  winter. 

“  Wi-jun-jon  was  the  foremost  on  all  occasions — the  first  to  enter 
the  levee — the  first  to  shake  the  President’s  hand,  and  make  his 
speech  to  him — the  last  to  extend  the  hand  to  them,  but  the  first  to 
catch  the  smiles  and  admiration  of  the  gentler  sex.  He  travelled 


152 


223 


the  giddy  maze,  and  beheld  amid  the  buzzing  din  of  civil  life,  their 
tricks  of  art,  their  handiworks,  and  their  finery ;  he  visited  their 
principal  cities — he  saw  their  forts,  their  ships,  their  great  guns, 
steam-boats,  balloons,  etc.,  etc. ;  and  in  the  spring  returned  to  St 
Louis,  where  I  joined  him  and  his  companions  on  their  way  back  to 
their  own  country. 

“Through  the  politeness  of  Mr  Chouteau,  of  the  American  Fur 
Company,  I  was  admitted  (the  only  passenger  except  Major  Sanford 
and  his  Indians)  to  a  passage  in  their  steam-boat,  on  her  first  trip  to 
the  Yellow  Stone ;  and  when  I  had  embarked,  and  the  boat  was  about 
to  depart,  Wi-jun-jon  made  his  appearance  on  deck,  in  a  full  suit  of 
regimentals !  He  had  in  Washington  exchanged  his  beautifully 
garnished  and  classic  costume,  for  a  full  dress  ‘  en  militaire  ’  (see  Fig. 
272).  It  was,  perhaps,  presented  to  him  by  the  President.  It  was 
broadcloth,  of  the  finest  blue,  trimmed  with  lace  of  gold ;  on  his 
shoulders  were  mounted  two  immense  epaulettes :  his  neck  was 
strangled  with  a  shining  black  stock,  and  his  feet  were  pinioned  in  a 
pair  of  water-proof  boots,  with  high  heels,  which  made  him  ‘  step  like 
a  yoked  hog.’ 

“  ‘  Ha-ha-hagh  (pardfin,  Monsieur  Cataline,  for  I  am  almost  laugh) 
— well,  he  was  a  fine  genteman,  ha  ?  ’ 

“  On  his  head  was  a  high-crowned  beaver  hat,  with  a  broad  silver 
lace  band,  surmounted  by  a  huge  red  feather,  some  two  feet  high  ;  his 
coat  collar  stiff  with  lace,  came  higher  up  than  his  ears,  and  over  it 
flowed,  down  towards  his  haunches,  his  long  Indian  locks,  stuck  up 
in  rolls  and  plaits,  with  red  paint. 

“  ‘  Ha-ha-hagh-agh-ah.’ 

“  Hold  your  tongue,  Ba’tiste. 

“Well,  go  on — go  on.’ 

“  A  large  silver  medal  was  suspended  from  his  neck  by  a  blue 
ribbon — and  across  his  right  shoulder  passed  a  wide  belt,  supporting 
by  his  side  a  broad-sword. 

“  ‘  Diable !  ’ 

“  On  his  hands  he  had  drawn  a  pair  of  white  kid  gloves,  and  in 
them  held  a  blue  umbrella  in  one,  and  a  large  fan  in  the  other.  In 
this  fashion  was  poor  Wi-jun-jon  metamorphosed,  on  his  return  from 
Washington ;  and  in  this  plight  was  he  strutting  and  whistling 
Yankee  Doodle,  about  the  deck  of  the  steamer  that  was  wending  its 
way  up  the  mighty  Missouri,  and  taking  him  to  his  native  land  again  ; 
where  he  was  soon  to  light  his  pipe,  and  cheer  the  wigwam  fire-side, 
with  tales  of  novelty  and  wonder. 

“Well,  Ba’tiste,  I  travelled  with  this  new-fangled  gentleman  until 


224 


he  reached  his  home,  two  thousand  miles  above  St  Louis,  and  I  could 
never  look  upon  him  for  a  moment  without  excessive  laughter,  at  the- 
ridiculous  figure  he  cut — the  strides,  the  angles,  the  stiffness  of  this 
travelling  beau !  Oh  Ba’tiste,  if  you  could  have  seen  him,  you  would 
have  split  your  sides  with  laughter;  he  was — ‘  puss  in  boots,’  precisely! 

“  ‘  By  gar,  he  is  good  compare  !  Ha-ha,  Monsieur :  (pardon)  I  am 
laugh :  I  am  see  him  wen  he  is  arrive  in  Yellow  Stone ;  you  know  I 
was  dere.  I  am  laugh  much  wen  he  is  got  off  de  boat,  and  all  de 
Assinneboins  was  dere  to  look.  Oh  diable  !  I  am  laugh  almost  to  die, 
I  am  split ! — suppose  he  was  pretty  stiff,  ha  ?  “  cob  on  spindle,”  ha  ? 
Oh,  by  gar,  he  is  coot  pour  laugh — pour  rire  ?  ’ 

“After  Wi-jun-jon  had  got  home,  and  passed  the  usual  salutations' 
among  his  friends,  he  commenced  the  simple  narration  of  scenes  he  had 
passed  through,  and  of  things  he  had  beheld  among  the  whites ;  which, 
appeared  to  them  so  much  like  fiction,  that  it  was  impossible  to 
believe  them,  and  they  set  him  down  as  an  imposter.  ‘  He  has  been 
(they  said),  among  the  whites,  who  are  great  liars,  and  all  he  has 
learned  is  to  come  home  and  tell  lies.’  He  sank  rapidly  into  disgrace 
in  his  tribe ;  his  high  claims  to  political  eminence  all  vanished  ;  he 
was  reputed  worthless — the  greatest  liar  of  his  nation ;  the  chiefs 
shunned  him  and  passed  him  by  as  one  of  the  tribe  who  was  lost ; 
yet  the  ears  of  the  gossiping  portion  of  the  tribe  were  open,  and  the 
camp-fire  circle  and  the  wigwam  fire-side,  gave  silent  audience  to  the 
whispered  narratives  of  the  ‘  travelled  Indian.’  *  * 

“  The  next  day  after  he  had  arrived  among  his  friends,  the  super¬ 
fluous  part  of  his  coat  (which  was  a  laced  frock),  was  converted  into 
a  pair  of  leggings  for  his  wife ;  and  his  hat-band  of  silver  lace 
furnished  her  a  magnificent  pair  of  garters.  The  remainder  of  the  coat, 
curtailed  of  its  original  length,  was  seen  buttoned  upon  the  shoulders  of 
his  brother,  over  and  above  a  pair  of  leggings  of  buckskin ;  and  Wi- 
jun-jon  was  parading  about  among  his  gaping  friends,  with  a  bow  and 
quiver  slung  over  his  shoulders,  which,  sans  coat,  exhibited  a  fine 
linen  shirt  with  studs  and  sleeve  buttons.  His  broad-sword  kept  its 
place,  but  about  noon,  his  boots  gave  way  to  a  pair  of  garnished 
moccasins ;  and  in  such  plight  he  gossiped  away  the  day  among  his 
friends,  while  his  heart  spoke  so  freely  and  so  effectually  from  the 
bung-hole  of  a  little  keg  of  whiskey,  which  he  had  brought  the  whole 
way  (as  one  of  the  choicest  presents  made  him  at  Washington),  that 
his  tongue  became  silent. 

“  One  of  his  little  fair  inamoratas,  or  ‘  catch  crumbs,’  such  as  live 
in  the  halo  of  all  great  men.  fixed  her  eyes  and  her  affections  upon  his 
beautiful  silk  braces,  and  the  next  day,  while  the  keg  was  yet  dealing 


out  of  its  kindnesses,  he  was  seen  paying  visits  to  the  lodges  of  his  old 
acquaintance,  swaggering  about,  with  his  keg  under  his  arm,  whistling 
Yankee  Doodle,  and  Washington’s  Grand  March;  his  white  shirt,  or 
that  part  of  it  that  had  been  gapping  in  the  wind,  had  been  shock¬ 
ingly  tithed — his  pantaloons  of  blue,  laced  with  gold,  were  razed  into 
a  pair  of  comfortable  leggings — his  bow  and  quiver  were  slung,  and 
his  broad-sword  which  trailed  on  the  ground,  had  sought  the  centre 
of  gravity,  and  taken  a  position  between  his  legs,  and  dragging  behind 
him,  served  as  a  rudder  to  steer  him  over  the  ‘  earth’s  troubled  surface.’ 

“  ‘  Iia-hah-hagh - ah - o - oo - k,  eh  bien.’ 

“  Two  days’  revel  of  this  kind,  had  drawn  from  his  keg  all  its 
charms;  and  in  the  mellowness  of  his  heart,  all  his  finery  had 
vanished,  and  all  of  its  appendages,  except  his  umbrella,  to  which  his 
heart’s  strongest  affections  still  clung,  and  with  it,  and  under  it,  in 
rude  dress  of  buckskin,  he  was  afterwards  to  be  seen,  in  all  sorts  of 
weather,  acting  the  fop  and  the  beau  as  well  as  he  could,  with  his 
limited  means.  In  this  plight,  and  in  this  dress,  with  his  umbrella 
always  in  his  hand  (as  the  only  remaining  evidence  of  his  quondam 
greatness),  he  began  in  his  sober  moments,  to  entertain  and  instruct 
his  people,  by  honest  and  simple  narratives  of  things  and  scenes  he 
had  beheld  during  his  tour  to  the  East ;  but  which  (unfortunately  for 
him),  were  to  them  too  marvellous  and  improbable  to  be  believed. 
He  told  the  gaping  multitude,  that  were  constantly  gathering  about 
him,  of  the  distance  he  had  travelled — of  the  astonishing  number  of 
houses  he  had  seen — of  the  towns  and  cities,  with  all  their  wealth 
and  splendour — of  travelling  on  steam-boats,  in  stages,  and  on  rail¬ 
roads.  He  described  our  forts,  and  seventy-four  gun  ships,  which  he 
had  visited — their  big  guns — our  great  bridges — our  great  council- 
house  at  Washington,  and  its  doings — the  curious  and  wonderful 
machines  in  the  patent  office  (which  he  pronounced  the  greatest 
medicine  place  he  had  seen) ;  he  described  the  great  war  parade,  which 
he  saw  in  the  city  of  New  York — the  ascent  of  the  balloon  from 
Castle  Garden — the  numbers  of  the  white  people,  the  beauty  of  the 
white  squaws ;  their  red  cheeks,  and  many  thousands  of  other  things, 
all  of  which  were  so  much  beyond  their  comprehension,  that  they 
‘  could  not  be  true,’  and  ‘  he  must  be  the  very  greatest  liar  in  the 
whole  world.’  * 

“  But  he  was  beginning  to  acquire  a  reputation  of  a  different  kind. 
He  was  denominated  a  medicine-man,  and  one  too  of  the  most  extra- 

*  Most  unfortunately  for  this  poor  fellow,  the  other  one  of  his  tribe,  who 
travelled  with  him,  and  could  have  borne  testimony  to  the  truth  of  his  statements, 
died  of  the  quinsy  on  his  way  home. 

VOL.  II. 


P 


226 


ordinary  character ;  for  they  deemed  him  far  above  the  ordinary  sort 
of  human  beings,  whose  mind  could  invent  and  conjure  up  for  their 
amusement,  such  an  ingenious  fabrication  of  novelty  and  wonder. 
He  steadily  and  unostentatiously  persisted,  however,  in  this  way  of 
entertaining  his  friends  and  his  people,  though  he  knew  his  standing 
was  affected  by  it.  He  had  an  exhaustless  theme  to  descant  upon 
through  the  remainder  of  his  life ;  and  he  seemed  satisfied  to  lecture 
all  his  life,  for  the  pleasure  which  it  gave  him. 

“  So  great  was  his  medicine,  however,  that  they  began,  chiefs  and 
all,  to  look  upon  him  as  a  most  extraordinary  being,  and  the 
customary  honours  and  forms  began  to  be  applied  to  him,  and  the 
respect  shown  him,  that  belongs  to  all  men  in  the  Indian  country, 
who  are  distinguished  for  their  medicine  or  mysteries.  In  short,  when 
all  became  familiar  with  the  astonishing  representations  that  he 
made,  and  with  the  wonderful  alacrity  with  which  ‘  he  created  them,’ 
he  was  denominated  the  very  greatest  of  medicine  ;  and  not  only  that, 
but  the  ‘  lying  medicine That  he  should  be  the  greatest  of  medicine, 
and  that  for  lying,  merely,  rendered  him  a  prodigy  in  mysteries  that 
commanded  not  only  respect,  but  at  length  (when  he  was  more 
maturely  heard  and  listened  to)  admiration,  awe,  and  at  last  dread 
and  terror ;  which  altogether  must  needs  conspire  to  rid  the  world  of 
a  monster,  whose  more  than  human  talents  must  be  cut  down  to  lessj 
than  human  measurement. 

“  ‘  Wat !  Monsieur  Cataline,  dey  av  not  try  to  kill  him  ?  ’ 

“  Yes,  Ba’tiste,  in  this  way  the  poor  fellow  had  lived,  and  been  for 
three  years  past  continually  relating  the  scenes  he  had  beheld,  in  his 
tour  to  the  ‘  Far  East ;  ’  until  his  medicine  became  so  alarmingly 
great,  that  they  were  unwilling  he  should  live  ;  they  were  disposed  to 
kill  him  for  a  wizard.  One  of  the  young  men  of  the  tribe  took  the 
duty  upon  himself,  and  after  much  perplexity,  hit  upon  the  following 
plan,  to  wit : — he  had  fully  resolved,  in  conjunction  with  others  who 
were  in  the  conspiracy,  that  the  medicine  of  Wi-jun-jon  was  too  great 
for  the  ordinary  mode,  and  that  he  was  so  great  a  liar  that  a  rifle  bullet 
would  not  kill  him ;  while  the  young  man  was  in  this  distressing 
dilemma,  which  lasted  for  some  weeks,  he  had  a  dream  one  night, 
which  solved  all  difficulties ;  and  in  consequence  of  which,  he 
loitered  about  the  store  in  the  Fort,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Yellow 
Stone,  until  he  could  procure,  by  stealth  (according  to  the  injunction 
of  his  dream),  the  handle  of  an  iron  pot,  which  he  supposed  to 
possess  the  requisite  virtue,  and  taking  it  into  the  woods,  he  there 
spent  a  whole  day  in  straightening  and  filing  it,  to  fit  it  into  the 
barrel  of  his  gun ;  after  which,  he  made  his  appearance  again  in  the 


227 


Fort,  with  his  gun  under  his  robe,  charged  with  the  pot  handle,  and 
getting  behind  poor  Wi-jun-jon,  whilst  he  was  talking  with  the 
Trader,  placed  the  muzzle  behind  his  head  and  blew  out  his  brains ! 

“  ‘  Sacre  vengeance  !  oh,  mon  Dieu !  let  me  cry — I  shall  cry 
always,  for  evare — Oh  he  is  not  true,  I  hope  ?  no,  Monsieur,  no  !  ’ 

“  Yes,  Ba’tiste,  it  is  a  fact :  thus  ended  the  days  and  the  greatness, 
and  all  the  pride  and  hopes  of  Wi-jun-jon,  the  ‘ Pigeon’s  Egg  Head’ — 
a  warrior  and  a  brave  of  the  valiant  Assinneboins,  who  travelled 
eight  thousand  miles  to  see  the  President,  and  all  the  great  cities  of 
the  civilised  world ;  and  who,  for  telling  the  truth,  and  nothing  but 
the  truth,  was,  after  he  got  home,  disgraced  and  killed  for  a  wizard. 

“  ‘  Oh,  Monsieur  Cataline — I  am  distress — I  am  sick — I  was  hope 
he  is  not  true — oh  I  am  mortify.  Wi-jun-jon  was  coot  Ingin — he 
was  my  bruddare — eh  bien — eh  bien.’ 

“  Now,  my  friend  Ba’tiste,  I  see  you  are  distressed,  and  I  regret 
exceedingly  that  it  must  be  so  ;  he  was  your  friend  and  relative,  and 
I  myself  feel  sad  at  the  poor  fellow’s  unhappy  and  luckless  fate ;  for 
he  was  a  handsome,  an  honest,  and  a  noble  Indian. 

“  ‘  C’est  vrais,  Monsieur,  c’est  vrai.’ 

“  This  man’s  death,  Ba’tiste,  has  been  a  loss  to  himself,  to  his 
friends,  and  to  the  world ;  but  you  and  I  may  profit  by  it,  never¬ 
theless,  if  we  bear  it  in  mind - 

“  ‘  Oui !  yes,  Monsr.  mais,  suppose,  ’tis  bad  wind  dat  blows  nary 
way,  ha  ?  ’ 

“  Yes,  Ba’tiste,  we  may  profit  by  his  misfortune,  if  we  choose.  We 
may  call  it  a  *  caution  ’ ;  for  instance,  when  I  come  to  write  your 
book,  as  you  have  proposed,  the  fate  of  this  poor  fellow,  who  was 
relating  no  more  than  what  he  actually  saw,  will  caution  you  against 
the  imprudence  of  telling  all  that  you  actually  know,  and  narrating 
all  that  you  have  seen,  lest  like  him  you  sink  into  disgrace  for  telling 
the  truth.  You  know,  Ba’tiste,  that  there  are  many  things  to  be 
seen  in  the  kind  of  life  that  you  and  I  have  been  living  for  some 
years  past,  which  it  would  be  more  prudent  for  us  to  suppress  than 
to  tell. 

“  ‘  Oui,  Monsieur.  Well,  suppose,  perhaps  I  am  discourage  about 
de  book.  Mais,  we  shall  see,  ha  ?  ’  ” 

Thus  ended  the  last  night’s  gossip,  and  in  the  cool  of  this  morning, 
we  bid  adieu  to  the  quiet  and  stillness  of  this  wild  place,  of  which 
I  have  resolved  to  give  a  little  further  account  before  we  take  leave 
of  it. 

From  the  Fall  of  St  Anthony,  my  delightful  companion  (Mr 
Wood,  whom  I  have  before  mentioned)  and  myself,  with  our  Indian 


228 


guide,  whose  name  was  O-kup-pee,  tracing  the  beautiful  shores  of 
the  St  Peters  river,  about  eighty  miles ;  crossing  it  at  a  place  called 
“  Traverse  dcs  Sioux,”  and  recrossing  it  at  another  point  about  thirty 
miles  above  the  mouth  of  “  Terre  Blcue,”  from  whence  we  steered  in 
a  direction  a  little  north  of  west  for  the  “  Coteau  des  Prairies,” 
leaving  the  St  Peters  river,  and  crossing  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
prairie  countries  in  the  world,  for  the  distance  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty  or  thirty  miles,  which  brought  us  to  the  base  of  the  Coteau, 
where  we  were  joined  by  our  kind  and  esteemed  companion  Monsieur 
La  Fromboise,  as  I  have  before  related.  This  tract  of  country  as 
well  as  that  along  the  St  Peters  river,  is  mostly  covered  with  the 
richest  soil,  and  furnishes  an  abundance  of  good  water,  which  flows 
from  a  thousand  living  springs.  For  many  miles  we  had  the  Coteau 
in  view  in  the  distance  before  us,  which  looked  like  a  blue  cloud 
settling  down  in  the  horizon ;  and  we  were  scarcely  sensible  of  the 
fact,  when  we  had  arrived  at  its  base,  from  the  graceful  and  almost 
imperceptible  swells  with  which  it  commences  its  elevation  above 
the  country  around  it.  Over  these  swells  or  terraces,  gently  rising 
one  above  the  other,  we  travelled  for  the  distance  of  forty  or 
fifty  miles,  when  we  at  length  reached  the  summit ;  and  from  the 
base  of  this  mound,  to  its  top,  a  distance  of  forty  or  fifty  miles, 
there  was  not  a  tree  or  bush  to  be  seen  in  any  direction,  and  the 
ground  everywhere  was  covered  with  a  green  turf  of  grass,  about 
five  or  six  inches  high ;  and  we  were  assured  by  our  Indian  guide, 
that  it  descended  to  the  west,  towards  the  Missouri,  with  a  similar 
inclination,  and  for  an  equal  distance,  divested  of  everything  save 
the  grass  that  grows,  and  the  animals  that  walk  upon  it. 

On  the  very  top  of  this  mound  or  ridge,  we  found  the  far-famed 
quarry  or  fountain  of  the  Eed  Pipe,  which  is  truly  an  anomaly  in 
nature  (Fig.  270).  The  principal  and  most  striking  feature  of  this 
place,  is  a  perpendicular  wall  of  close-grained,  compact  quartz,  of 
twenty-five  and  thirty  feet  in  elevation,  running  nearly  north  and 
south  with  its  face  to  the  west,  exhibiting  a  front  of  nearly  two 
miles  in  length,  when  it  disappears  at  both  ends  by  running  under 
the  prairie,  which  becomes  there  a  little  more  elevated,  and  probably 
covers  it  for  many  miles,  both  to  the  north  and  the  south.  The 
depression  of  the  brow  of  the  ridge  at  this  place  has  been  caused  by 
the  wash  of  a  little  stream,  produced  by  several  springs  on  the  top, 
a  little  back  from  the  wall ;  which  has  gradually  carried  away  the 
super-incumbent  earth,  and  having  bared  the  wall  for  the  distance 
of  two  miles,  is  now  left  to  glide  for  some  distance  over  a  perfectly 
level  surface  of  quartz  rock ;  and  then  to  leap  from  the  top  of  the 


229 


wall  into  a  deep  basin  below,  and  from  thence  seek  its  course  to 
the  Missouri,  forming  the  extreme  source  of  a  noted  and  powerful 
tributary,  called  the  “  Big  Sioux.” 

This  beautiful  wall  is  horizontal,  and  stratified  in  several  distinct 
layers  of  light  grey,  and  rose  or  flesh-covered  quartz ;  and  for  most 
of  the  way,  both  on  the  front  of  the  wall,  and  for  acres  of  its  horizontal 
surface,  highly  polished  or  glazed,  as  if  by  ignition. 

At  the  base  of  this  wall  there  is  a  level  prairie,  of  half  a  mile  in 
width,  running  parallel  to  it;  in  any  and  all  parts  of  which,  the 
Indians  procure  the  red  stone  for  their  pipes,  by  digging  through 
the  soil  and  several  slaty  layers  of  the  red  stone,  to  the  depth  of 
four  or  five  feet.*  From  the  very  numerous  marks  of  ancient  and 
modern  diggings  or  excavations,  it  would  appear  that  this  place  has 
been  for  many  centuries  resorted  to  for  the  red  stone ;  and  from  the 
great  number  of  graves  and  remains  of  ancient  fortifications  in  its 
vicinity,  it  would  seem,  as  well  as  from  their  actual  traditions,  that 
the  Indian  tribes  have  long  held  this  place  in  high  superstitious 
estimation ;  and  also  that  it  has  been  the  resort  of  different  tribes, 
who  have  made  their  regular  pilgrimages  here  to  renew  their  pipes. 

The  red  pipe  stone,  I  consider,  will  take  its  place  amongst 
minerals,  as  an  interesting  subject  of  itself ;  and  the  “  Coteau  des 
Prairies  ”  will  become  hereafter  an  important  theme  for  geologists ; 
not  only  from  the  fact  that  this  is  the  only  known  locality  of  that 
mineral,  but  from  other  phenomena  relating  to  it.  The  single  fact 
of  such  a  table  of  quartz,  in  horizontal  strata,  resting  on  this  elevated 
plateau,  is  of  itself  (in  my  opinion)  a  very  interesting  subject  for 
investigation ;  and  one  which  calls  upon  the  scientific  world  for  a 
correct  theory  with  regard  to  the  time  when,  and  the  manner  in 
which,  this  formation  was  produced.  That  it  is  of  a  secondary 
character,  and  of  a  sedimentary  deposit,  seems  evident ;  and  that  it 
has  withstood  the  force  of  the  diluvial  current,  while  the  great  valley 
of  the  Missouri,  from  this  very  wall  of  rocks  to  the  Bocky  Moun¬ 
tains,  has  been  excavated,  and  its  debris  carried  to  the  ocean,  there 
is  also  not  a  snadow  of  doubt ;  which  opinion  I  confidently  advance 
on  the  authority  of  the  following  remarkable  facts : — 

At  the  base  of  the  wall,  and  within  a  few  rods  of  it,  and  on  the 
very  ground  where  the  Indians  dig  for  the  red  stone,  rests  a  group 
of  five  stupendous  boulders  of  gneiss,  leaning  against  each  other ;  the 

*  From  the  very  many  excavations  recently  and  anciently  made,  I  could  dis¬ 
cover  that  these  layers  varied  very  much,  in  their  thickness  in  different  parts  ;  and 
that  in  some  places  they  were  overlaid  with  four  or  five  feet  of  rock,  similar  to,  and 
in  fact  a  part  of,  the  lower  stratum  of  the  walk 


230 


smallest  of  which  is  twelve  or  fifteen  feet,  and  the  largest  twenty-five 
feet  in  diameter,  altogether  weighing,  unquestionably,  several  hundred 
tons.  These  blocks  are  composed  chiefly  of  felspar  and  mica,  of  an 
exceedingly  coarse  grain  (the  felspar  often  occurring  in  crystals  of  an 
inch  in  diameter).  The  surface  of  these  boulders  is  in  every  part 
covered  with  a  grey  moss,  which  gives  them  an  extremely  ancient 
and  venerable  appearance,  and  their  sides  and  angles  are  rounded  by 
attrition,  to  the  shape  and  character  of  most  other  erratic  stones, 
which  are  found  throughout  the  country.  It  is  under  these  blocks 
that  the  two  holes,  or  ovens  are  seen,  in  which,  according  to  the 
Indian  superstition,  the  two  old  women,  the  guardian  spirits  of  the 
place,  reside ;  of  whom  I  have  before  spoken. 

That  these  five  immense  blocks,  of  precisely  the  same  character, 
and  differing  materially  from  all  other  specimens  of  boulders  which 
I  have  seen  in  the  great  valleys  of  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri, 
should  have  been  hurled  some  hundreds  of  miles  from  their  native 
bed,  and  lodged  in  so  singular  a  group  on  this  elevated  ridge,  is  truly 
matter  of  surprise  for  the  scientific  world,  as  well  as  for  the  poor 
Indian,  whose  superstitious  veneration  of  them  is  such,  that  not  a 
spear  of  grass  is  broken  or  bent  by  his  feet,  within  three  or  four  rods 
of  them,  where  he  stops,  and  in  humble  supplication,  by  throwing 
plugs  of  tobacco  to  them,  solicits  permission  to  dig  and  carry  away 
the  red  stone  for  his  pipes.  The  surface  of  these  boulders  are  in 
every  part  entire  and  unscratched  by  anything ;  wearing  the  moss 
everywhere  unbroken,  except  where  I  applied  the  hammer,  to  obtain 
some  small  specimens,  which  I  shall  bring  away  with  me. 

The  fact  alone,  that  these  blocks  differ  in  character  from  all  other 
specimens  which  I  have  seen  in  my  travels,  amongst  the  thousands 
of  boulders  which  are  strewed  over  the  great  valley  of  the  Missouri 
and  Mississippi,  from  the  Yellow  Stone  almost  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
raises  in  my  mind  an  unanswerable  question,  as  regards  the  location 
of  their  native  bed,  and  the  means  by  which  they  have  reached  their 
isolated  position ;  like  five  brothers,  leaning  against  and  supporting 
each  other,  without  the  existence  of  another  boulder  within  many 
miles  of  them.  There  are  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of 
boulders  scattered  over  the  prairies,  at  the  base  of  the  Coteau,  on 
either  side  ;  and  so  throughout  the  valley  of  the  St  Peters  and  Missis¬ 
sippi,  which  are  also  subjects  of  very  great  interest  and  importance 
to  science,  inasmuch  as  they  present  to  the  world,  a  vast  variety  of 
characters ;  and  each  one,  though  strayed  away  from  its  original 
position,  bears  incontestible  proof  of  the  character  of  its  native  bed. 
The  tract  of  country  lying  between  the  St  Peters  river  and  the- 


G.  Ca.Uin 


231 


Coteau,  over  which  we  passed,  presents  innumerable  specimens  of 
this  kind ;  and  near  the  base  of  the  Coteau  they  are  strewed  over 
the  prairie  in  countless  numbers,  presenting  almost  an  incredible 
variety  of  rich,  and  beautiful  colours ;  and  undoubtedly  traceable  (if 
they  can  be  traced),  to  separate  and  distinct  beds. 

Amongst  these  beautiful  groups,  it  was  sometimes  a  very  easy 
matter  to  sit  on  my  horse  and  count  within  my  sight,  some  twenty 
or  thirty  different  varieties,  of  quartz  and  granite,  in  rounded  boulders, 
of  every  hue  and  colour,  from  snow  white  to  intense  red,  and  yellow, 
and  blue,  and  almost  to  a  jet  black ;  each  one  well  characterised  and 
evidently  from  a  distinct  quarry.  With  the  beautiful  hues  and  almost 
endless  characters  of  these  blocks,  I  became  completely  surprised  and 
charmed ;  and  I  resolved  to  procure  specimens  of  every  variety,  which 
I  did  with  success,  by  dismounting  from  my  horse,  and  breaking  small 
bits  from  them  with  my  hammer !  until  I  had  something  like  a 
hundred  different  varieties,  containing  all  the  tints  and  colours  of  a 
painter’s  palette.  These,  I  at  length  threw  away,  as  I  had  on  several 
former  occasions,  other  minerals  and  fossils,  which  I  had  collected 
and  lugged  along  from  day  to  day,  and  sometimes  from  week  to 
week. 

Whether  these  varieties  of  quartz  and  granite  can  all  be  traced 
to  their  native  beds,  or  whether  they  all  have  origins  at  this  time 
exposed  above  the  earth’s  surface,  are  equally  matters  of  much 
doubt  in  my  mind.  I  believe  that  the  geologist  may  take  the 
different  varieties,  which  he  may  gather  at  the  base  of  the  Coteau 
in  one  hour,  and  travel  the  Continent  of  North  America  all  over 
without  being  enabled  to  put  them  all  in  place ;  coming  at  last  to 
the  unavoidable  conclusion,  that  numerous  chains  or  beds  of  primitive 
rocks  have  reared  their  heads  on  this  Continent,  the  summits  of 
which  have  been  swept  away  by  the  force  of  diluvial  currents,  and 
their  fragments  jostled  together  and  strewed  about,  like  foreigners 
in  a  strange  land,  over  the  great  valleys  of  the  Mississippi  and 
Missouri,  where  they  will  ever  remain,  and  be  gazed  upon  by  the 
traveller,  as  the  only  remaining  evidence  of  their  native  beds,  which 
have  again  submerged  or  been  covered  with  diluvial  deposits. 

There  seems  not  to  be,  either  on  the  Coteau  or  in  the  great  valleys 
on  either  side,  so  far  as  I  have  travelled,  any  slaty  or  other  formation 
exposed  above  the  surface  on  which  grooves  or  scratches  can  be  seen, 
to  establish  the  direction  of  the  diluvial  currents  in  those  regions ; 
yet  I  think  the  fact  is  pretty  clearly  established  by  the  general 
shapes  of  the  valleys,  and  the  courses  of  the  mountain  ridges  which 
wall  them  in  on  their  sides. 


232 


Tlie  Coteau  des  Prairies  is  the  dividing  ridge  between  the  St 
Peters  and  Missouri  rivers;  its  southern  termination  or  slope  is 
about  in  the  latitude  of  the  Pall  of  St  Anthony,  and  it  stands  equi¬ 
distant  between  the  two  rivers;  its  general  course  bearing  two  or 
three  degrees  west  of  north  for  the  distance  of  two  or  three  hundred 
miles,  when  it  gradually  slopes  again  to  the  north,  throwing  out 
from  its  base  the  head-waters  and  tributaries  of  the  St  Peters  on  the 
east.  The  Eed  Eiver,  and  other  streams,  which  empty  into  Hudson’s 
Bay,  on  the  north;  La  Eiviere  Jaque  and  several  other  tributaries  to 
the  Missouri,  on  the  west ;  and  the  Eed  Cedar,  the  loway,  and  the 
Des  Moines,  on  the  south. 

This  wonderful  feature,  which  is  several  hundred  miles  in  length, 
and  varying  from  fifty  to  a  hundred  in  width,  is,  perhaps,  the  noblest 
mound  of  its  kind  in  the  world;  it  gradually  and  gracefully  rises  on 
each  side,  by  swell  after  swell,  without  tree,  or  bush  or  rock  (save 
what  are  to  be  seen  in  rne  vicinity  of  the  Pipe  Stone  Quarry),  and 
everywhere  covered  with  green  grass,  affording  the  traveller,  from  its 

highest  elevations,  the  most  unbounded  and  sublime  views  of - - 

nothing  at  all - save  the  blue  and  boundless  ocean  of  prairies  that 

lie  beneath  and  all  around  him,  vanishing  into  azure  in  the  distance 
without  a  speck  or  spot  to  break  their  softness. 

The  direction  of  this  ridge,  I  consider,  pretty  clearly  establishes 
the  course  of  the  diluvial  current  in  this  region,  and  the  erratic  stones 
which  are  distributed  along  its  base,  I  attribute  to  an  origin  several 
hundred  miles  north-west  from  the  Coteau.  I  have  not  myself 
traced  the  Coteau  to  its  highest  points,  nor  to  its  northern  extremity ; 
but  it  has  been  a  subject  on  which  I  have  closely  questioned  a  number 
of  Traders,  who  have  traversed  every  mile  of  it  with  their  carts,  and 
from  thence  to  Lake  Winnipeg  on  the  north,  who  uniformly  tell  me, 
that  there  is  no  range  of  primitive  rocks  to  be  crossed  in  travelling 
the  whole  distance,  which  is  one  connected  and  continuous  prairie. 

The  top  and  sides  or  the  Coteau  are  everywhere  strewed  over  tho 
surface  with  granitic  sand  and  pebbles,  which,  together  with  the  fact 
of  the  five  boulders  resting  at  the  Pipe  Stone  Quarry,  show  clearly 
that  every  part  of  the  ridge  has  been  subject  to  the  action  of  these 
currents,  which  could  not  have  run  counter  to  it,  without  having  dis¬ 
figured  or  deranged  its  beautiful  symmetry. 

The  glazed  or  polished  surface  of  the  quartz  rocks  at  the  Pipe 
Stone  Quarry,  I  consider  a  very  interesting  subject,  and  one  which 
will  excite  hereafter  a  variety  of  theories,  as  to  the  manner  in  which  it 
has  been  produced,  and  the  causes  which  have  led  to  such  singular 
results.  The  quartz  is  of  a  close  grain,  and  exceedingly  hard,  elicit- 


233 


ing  the  most  brilliant  spark  from  steel ;  and  in  most  places,  where 
exposed  to  the  sun  and  the  air,  has  a  high  polish  on  its  surface, 
entirely  beyond  any  results  which  could  have  been  produced  by 
diluvial  action,  being  perfectly  glazed  as  if  by  ignition.  I  was  not 
sufficiently  particular  in  my  examinations  to  ascertain  whether  any 
parts  of  the  surface  of  these  rocks  under  the  ground,  and  not  exposed 
to  the  action  of  the  air,  were  thus  affected,  which  would  afford  an 
important  argument  in  forming  a  correct  theory  with  regard  to  it; 
and  it  may  also  be  a  fact  of  similar  importance,  that  this  polish  does 
not  extend  over  the  whole  wall  or  area ;  but  is  distributed  over  it  in 
parts  and  sections,  often  disappearing  suddenly,  and  reappearing 
again,  even  where  the  character  and  exposure  of  the  rock  is  the 
same  and  unbroken.  In  general,  the  parts  and  points  most  project¬ 
ing  and  exposed,  bear  the  highest  polish,  which  would  naturally  be 
the  case  whether  it  was  produced  by  ignition  or  by  the  action  of  the 
air  and  sun.  It  would  seem  almost  an  impossibility,  that  the  air 
passing  these  projections  for  a  series  of  centuries,  could  have  produced 
so  high  a  polish  on  so  hard  a  substance ;  and  it  seems  equally  un¬ 
accountable,  that  this  effect  could  have  been  produced  in  the  other 
way,  in  the  total  absence  of  all  igneous  matter. 

I  have  broken  off  specimens  and  brought  them  home,  which 
certainly  bear  as  high  a  polish  and  lustre  on  the  surface,  as  a  piece 
of  melted  glass;  and  then  as  these  rocks  have  undoubtedly  been 
formed  where  they  now  lie,  it  must  be  admitted,  that  this  strange 
effect  on  their  surface  has  been  produced  either  by  the  action  of  the 
air  and  sun,  or  by  igneous  influence;  and  if  by  the  latter  course, 
there  is  no  other  conclusion  we  can  come  to,  than  that  these  results 
are  volcanic ;  that  this  wall  has  once  formed  the  sides  of  a  crater, 
and  that  the  Pipe  Stone,  lying  in  horizontal  strata,  is  formed  of  the 
lava  which  has  issued  from  it.  I  am  strongly  inclined  to  believe, 
however,  that  the  former  supposition  is  the  correct  one ;  and  that 
the  Pipe  Stone,  which  differs  from  all  known  specimens  of  lava,  is 
a  new  variety  of  steatite,  and  will  be  found  to  be  a  subject  of  great 
interest  and  one  worthy  of  a  careful  analysis.* 

With  such  notes  and  such  memorandums  on  this  shorn  land, 
whose  quiet  and  silence  are  only  broken  by  the  winds  and  the 
thunders  of  Heaven,  I  close  my  note-book,  and  we  this  morning 
saddle  our  horses ;  and  after  wending  our  way  to  the  “  Thunders’ 
Nest  ”  and  the  “  Stone-man  Medicine,”  we  shall  descend  into  the 

In  Silliman’s  American  Journal  of  Science,  Vol.  xxxvii.,  p.  394,  will  be  seen 
the  following  analysis  of  this  mineral,  made  by  Dr  Jackson  of  Boston,  one  of  our 
best  mineralogists  and  chemists ;  to  whom  I  sent  some  specimens  for  the  purpose, 

P* 


234 


valley  of  the  St  Peters,  and  from  that  to  the  regions  of  civilisation ; 
from  whence,  if  I  can  get  there,  you  will  hear  of  me  again.  Adieu. 

and  who  '  pronounced  it,  “  a  new  mineral  compound,  not  steatite,  is  harder  than 
yypsum,  and  softer  than  carbonate  of  lime.'’'' 

Chemical  Analysis  of  the  Red  Pipe  Stone,  brought  by  George  Catlin,  from  the 


Coteau  des  Prairies,  in  1836  : — 

Water . 8 -4 

Silica . 48 -2 

Alumina . 28 ’2 

Magnesia . 6-0 

Carbonate  of  lime  .  .  .  .  2-6 

Peroxide  of  iron  .  .  .  .  5  ’0 

Oxide  of  Manganese  .  .  .  0-6 

09-0 

Loss  (probably  magnesia) .  .  .  1  *0 


100-0 

Note. — All  the  varieties  of  this  beautiful  mineral,  may  at  all  times  be  seen  in 
the  Indian  Museum  ;  and  by  the  curious,  specimens  may  be  obtained  for  any 
further  experiments. 


&Caflm 


LETTER— No.  56 


KOCK  ISLAND,  UPPER  MISSISSIPPI 

It  will  be  seen  by  this,  that  I  am  again  wending  my  way  towards 
home.  Our  neat  little  “  dug  out,”  by  the  aid  of  our  paddles,  has  at 
length  brought  my  travelling  companion  and  myself  in  safety  to  this 
place,  where  we  found  the  river,  the  shores,  and  the  plains  contiguous, 
alive  and  vivid  with  plumes,  with  spears,  and  war-clubs  of  the  yelling 
red  men. 

We  had  heard  that  the  whole  nation  of  Sacs  and  Foxes  were  to 
meet  Governor  Dodge  here  in  treaty  at  this  time,  and  nerve  was 
given  liberally  to  our  paddles,  which  had  brought  us  from  Traverse 
des  Sioux,  on  the  St  Peters  river ;  and  we  reached  here  luckily  in 
time  to  see  the  parades  and  forms  of  a  savage  community,  transferring 
the  rights  and  immunities  of  their  natural  soil,  to  the  insatiable  grasp 
of  pale  faced  voracity. 

After  having  glutted  our  curiosity  at  the  fountain  of  the  Red 
Pipe,  our  horses  brought  us  to  the  base  of  the  Coteau,  and  then  over 
the  extended  plain  that  lies  between  that  and  the  Traverse  des  Sioux, 
on  the  St  Peters  with  about  five  days’  travel. 

In  this  distance  we  passed  some  of  the  loveliest  prairie  country  in 
the  world,  and  I  made  a  number  of  sketches — “  Laquc  du  Cygne,  Swan 
Lake  (Fig.  276),  was  a  peculiar  and  lovely  scene,  extending  for  many 
miles,  and  filled  with  innumerable  small  islands  covered  with  a  pro¬ 
fusion  of  rich  forest  trees.  Fig.  277,  exhibits  the  Indian  mode  of 
taking  muskrats,  which  dwell  in  immense  numbers  in  these  northern 
prairies,  and  build  their  burrows  in  shoal  water,  of  the  stalks  of  the 
wild  rice.  They  are  built  up  something  of  the  size  and  form  of 
haycocks,  having  a  dry  chamber  in  the  top,  where  the  animal  sleeps 
above  water,  passing  in  and  out  through  a  hole  beneath  the  water’s 
surface.  The  skins  of  these  animals  are  sought  by  the  Traders  for 
their  fur,  and  they  constitute  the  staple  of  all  these  regions,  being 
caught  in  immense  numbers  by  the  Indians,  and  vended  to  the  Fur 
Traders.  The  mode  of  taking  them  is  seen  in  the  drawing;  the 
women,  children,  and  dogs  attend  to  the  little  encampments,  while 
the  men  wade  to  their  houses  or  burrows,  and  one  strikes  on  the  backs 
of  them,  as  the  other  takes  the  inhabitants  in  a  rapid  manner  with  a 
spear,  while  they  are  escaping  from  them. 

235 


236 


Fig.  278,  is  a  party  of  Sioux,  in  bark  canoes  (purchased  of  the 
Chippeways),  gathering  the  wild  rice,  which  grows  in  immense  fields 
around  the  shores  of  the  rivers  and  lakes  of  these  northern  regions, 
and  used  by  the  Indians  as  a  useful  article  of  food.  The  mode  of 
gathering  it  is  curious,  and  as  seen  in  the  drawing — one  woman 
paddles  the  canoe,  whilst  another,  with  a  stick  in  each  hand,  bends  the 
rice  over  the  canoe  with  one,  and  strikes  it  with  the  other,  which  shells 
it  into  the  canoe,  which  is  constantly  moving  along  until  it  is  filled. 

Fig.  279,  is  a  representation  of  one  of  the  many  lovely  prairie 
scenes  we  passed  on  the  banks  of  the  St  Peters  river,  near  the 
Traverse  des  Sioux. 

Whilst  traversing  this  beautiful  region  of  country,  we  passed  the 
bands  of  Sioux,  who  had  made  us  so  much  trouble  on  our  way  to  the 
Bed  Pipe,  but  met  with  no  further  molestation. 

At  the  Traverse  des  Sioux,  our  horses  were  left,  and  we  committed 
our  bodies  and  little  travelling  conveniences  to  the  narrow  compass 
of  a  modest  canoe,  that  must  most  evidently  have  been  dug  out  from 
the  wrong  side  of  the  log — that  required  us  and  everything  in  it,  to  be 
exactly  in  the  bottom — and  then,  to  look  straight  forward,  and  speak 
from  the  middle  of  our  mouths,  or  it  was  “t’other  side  up”  in  an 
instant.  In  this  way  embarked,  with  our  paddles  used  as  balance 
poles  and  propellers  (after  drilling  awhile  in  shoal  water  till  we  could 
“get  the  hang  of  it”),  we  started  off,  upon  the  bosom  of  the  St 
Peters,  for  the  Fall  of  St  Anthony.  *  *  *  * 

Sans  accident  we  arrived,  at  ten  o’clock  at  night  of  the  second  day — 
and  sans  steamer  (which  we  were  in  hopes  to  meet)  we  were  obliged 
to  trust  to  our  little  tremulous  craft  to  carry  us  through  the  windings 
of  the  mighty  Mississippi  and  Lake  Pepin,  to  Prairie  du  Chien,  a 
distance  of  400  miles,  which  I  had  travelled  last  summer  in  the  same 
manner. 

“  Oh  the  drudgery  and  toil  of  paddling  our  little  canoe  from  this 
to  Prairie  du  Chien,  we  never  can  do  it,  Catlin.” 

“  Ah  well,  never  mind,  my  dear  fellow — we  must  ‘  go  it  ’ — there  is 
no  other  way.  But  think  of  the  pleasure  of  such  a  trip,  ha?  Our 
guns  and  our  fishing-tackle  will  we  have  in  good  order,  and  be 
masters  of  our  own  boat — we  can  shove  it  into  every  nook  and  crevice ; 
explore  the  caves  in  the  rocks ;  ascend  ‘  Mount  Strombolo,’  and  linger 
along  the  pebbly  shores  of  Lake  Pepin,  to  our  heart’s  content.” 
“Well,  I  am  perfectly  agreed;  that’s  fine,  by  Jupiter,  that’s  what  I 
shall  relish  exactly ;  we  will  have  our  own  fun,  and  a  truce  to  the 
labour  and  time;  let’s  haste  and  be  off.”  So  we  catered  for  our 
voyage,  shook  hands  with  our  friends,  and  were  again  balancing  our 


155 


278 


<r.  CniJin 


237 


skittish  bark  upon  the  green  waters  of  the  Mississippi.  We  encamped 
(as  I  had  done  the  summer  before),  along  its  lonely  banks,  whose  only 
music  is  the  echoing  war-song  that  rises  from  the  glimmering  camp¬ 
fire  of  the  retiring  savage,  or  the  cries  of  the  famishing  wolf  that  sits 
and  bitterly  weeps  out  in  tremulous  tones,  his  impatience  for  the 
crumbs  that  are  to  fall  to  his  lot. 

Oh  !  but  we  enjoyed  those  moments  (did  we  not,  Wood  ?  I  would 
ask  you,  in  any  part  of  the  world,  where  circumstances  shall  throw 
this  in  your  way),  those  nights  of  our  voyage,  which  ended  days  of 
peril  and  fatigue;  when  our  larder  was  full,  when  our  coffee  was 
good,  our  mats  spread,  and  our  mosquito  bars  over  us,  which  admitted 
the  cool  and  freshness  of  night,  but  screened  the  dew,  and  bade 
defiance  to  the  buzzing  thousands  of  sharp-billed,  winged  torturers 
that  were  kicking  and  thumping  for  admission.  I  speak  now  of  fair 
weather,  not  of  the  nights  of  lightning  and  of  rain !  We’ll  pass  them 
over.  We  had  all  kinds  though,  and  as  we  loitered  ten  da)rs  on  our 
way,  we  examined  and  experimented  on  many  things  for  the  benefit 
of  mankind.  We  drew  into  our  larder  (in  addition  to  bass  and  wild 
fowls),  clams,  snails,  frogs,  and  rattlesnakes  ;  the  latter  of  which, 
when  properly  dressed  and  broiled,  we  found  to  be  the  most  delicious 
food  of  the  land. 

We  were  stranded  upon  the  eastern  shore  of  Lake  Pepin,  where 
head-winds  held  us  three  days ;  and,  like  solitary  Malays  or  Zealand 
penguins,  we  stalked  along  and  about  its  pebbly  shores  till  we  were 
tired,  before  we  could,  with  security,  lay  our  little  trough  upon  its 
troubled  surface.  AVhen  liberated  from  its  wind-bound  shores,  we 
busily  plied  our  paddles,  and  nimbly  sped  our  way,  until  we  were 
landed  at  the  fort  of  “  Mount  Strombolo  ”  (as  the  soldiers  call  it),  but 
properly  denominated,  in  French,  La  Montaigne  que  tromps  a  I’eau. 
We  ascended  it  without  much  trouble;  and  enjoyed  from  its  top,  one 
of  the  most  magnificent  panoramic  views  that  the  Western  world  can 
furnish ;  and  I  would  recommend  to  the  tourist  who  has  time  to  stop 
for  an  hour  or  two,  to  go  to  its  summit,  and  enjoy  with  rapture  the 
splendour  of  the  scene  that  lies  near  and  in  distance  about  him. 
This  mountain,  or  rather  pyramid,  is  an  anomaly  in  the  country, 
rising  as  it  does,  about  seven  hundred  feet  from  the  water,  and 
washed  at  its  base,  all  around,  by  the  river;  which  divides  and  runs 
on  each  side  of  it.  It  is  composed  chiefly  of  rock,  and  all  its  strata 
correspond  exactly  with  those  of  the  projecting  promontories  on 
either  side  of  the  river.  We  at  length  arrived  safe  at  Prairie  du 
Chien;  which  was  also  sans  steamer.  We  were  moored  again,  thirty 
miles  below,  at  the  beautiful  banks  and  bluffs  of  Cassville ;  which, 


238 


too,  was  sans  steamer — we  dipped  our  paddles  again - 

- -  and 

We  are  now  six  hundred  miles  below  the  Fall  of  St  Anthony, 
where  steamers  daily  pass ;  and  we  feel,  of  course,  at  home.  I  spoke 
of  the  Treaty.  We  were  just  in  time,  and  beheld  its  conclusion. 
It  was  signed  yesterday ;  and  this  day,  of  course,  is  one  of  revel  and 
amusements — shows  of  war  parades  and  dances.  The  whole  of  the 
Sacs  and  Foxes  are  gathered  here,  and  their  appearance  is  very  thrill¬ 
ing,  and  at  the  same  time  pleasing.  These  people  have  sold  so  much 
of  their  land  lately,  that  they  have  the  luxuries  of  life  to  a  consider¬ 
able  degree,  and  may  be  considered  rich;  consequently  they  look 
elated  and  happy,  carrying  themselves  much  above  the  humbled 
manner  of  most  of  the  semi-civilised  tribes,  whose  heads  are  hanging 
and  drooping  in  poverty  and  despair. 

In  a  former  epistle,  I  mentioned  the  interview  which  I  had  with 
Kee-o-kuk,  and  the  leading  men  and  women  of  his  tribe,  when  I 
painted  a  number  of  their  portraits  and  amusements  as  follow  : — 

Kee-o-kuk  (the  running  fox,  Fig.  280),  is  the  present  chief  of  the 
tribe,  a  dignified  and  proud  man,  with  a  good  share  of  talent,  and 
vanity  enough  to  force  into  action  all  the  wit  and  judgment  he 
possesses,  in  order  to  command  the  attention  and  respect  of  the  world. 
At  the  close  of  the  “  Black  Hawk  War,”  in  1833,  which  had  been 
waged  with  disastrous  effects  along  the  frontier,  by  a  Sac  chief  of 
that  name ;  Kee-o-kuk  was  acknowledged  chief  of  the  Sacs  and  Foxes 
by  General  Scott,  who  held  a  Treaty  with  them  at  Bock  Island. 
His  appointment  as  chief,  was  in  consequence  of  the  friendly  position 
he  had  taken  during  the  war,  holding  two-thirds  of  the  warriors 
neutral,  which  was  no  doubt  the  cause  of  the  sudden  and  successful 
termination  of  the  war,  and  the  means  of  saving  much  bloodshed. 
Black  Hawk  and  his  two  sons,  as  well  as  his  principal  advisers  and 
warriors,  were  brought  into  St  Louis  in  chains,  and  Kee-o-kuk 
appointed  chief  with  the  assent  of  the  tribe.  In  his  portrait  I  have 
represented  him  in  the  costume,  precisely,  in  which  he  was  dressed 
when  he  stood  for  it,  with  his  shield  on  his  arm,  and  his  staff  (insignia 
of  office)  in  his  left  hand.  There  is  no  Indian  chief  on  the  frontier 
better  known  at  this  time,  or  more  highly  appreciated  for  his  elo¬ 
quence,  as  a  public  speaker,  than  Kee-o-kuk ;  as  he  has  repeatedly 
visited  Washington  and  others  of  our  Atlantic  towns,  and  made  his 
speeches  before  thousands,  when  he  has  been  contending  for  his 
people’s  rights,  in  their  stipulations  with  the  United  States  Govern¬ 
ment,  for  the  sale  of  their  lands. 

As  so  much  is  known  of  this  man,  amongst  the  citizens  of  the 


15b 


5-  Cattin 


280 


Ib7 


X 

CNJ 


239 


United  States  there  is  scarcely  need  of  my  saying  much  more  of  him 
to  them ;  but  for  those  who  know  less  of  him,  I  shall  say  more  anon. 
Fig.  281,  is  a  portrait  of  the  wife  of  Kee-o-kuk,  and  Fig.  282,  of  his 
favourite  son,  whom  he  intends  to  be  his  successor.  These  portraits 
are  both  painted,  also,  in  the  costumes  precisely  in  which  they  were 
dressed.  This  woman  was  the  favourite  one  (I  think)  of  seven,  whom 
he  had  living  ( apparently  quite  comfortably  and  peaceably),  in  his 
wigwam,  where  General  Street  and  I  visited  him  in  his  village  on  the 
Des  Moines  river.  And,  although  she  was  the  oldest  of  the  “  lot,” 
she  seemed  to  be  the  favourite  one  on  this  occasion — the  only  one 
that  could  be  painted ;  on  account,  I  believe,  of  her  being  the  mother 
of  his  favourite  son.  Her  dress,  which  was  of  civilised  stuffs,  was 
fashioned  and  ornamented  by  herself,  and  was  truly  a  most  splendid 
affair ;  the  upper  part  of  it  being  almost  literally  covered  with  silver 
brooches. 

The  Sacs  and  Foxes,  who  were  once  two  separate  tribes,  but  with 
a  language  very  similar,  have,  at  some  period  not  very  remote, 
united  into  one,  and  are  now  an  inseparable  people,  and  go  by  the 
familiar  appellation  of  the  amalgam  name  of  “  Sacs  and  Foxes.” 

These  people,  as  will  be  seen  in  their  portraits,  shave  and  orna¬ 
ment  their  heads,  like  the  Osages  and  Pawnees,  of  whom  I  have  spoken 
heretofore ;  and  are  amongst  the  number  of  tribes  who  have  relin¬ 
quished  their  immense  tracts  of  lands,  and  recently  retired  west  of 
the  Mississippi  river.  Their  numbers  at  present  are  not  more  than 
five  or  six  thousand,  yet  they  are  a  warlike  and  powerful  tribe. 

Muk-a-tah-mish-o-kah-kailc  (the  black  hawk,  Fig.  283)  is  the  man  to 
whom  I  have  above  alluded,  as  the  leader  of  the  “  Black  Hawk  War,” 
who  was  defeated  by  General  Atkinson,  and  held  a  prisoner  of  war, 
and  sent  through  Washington  and  other  Eastern  cities,  with  a 
number  of  others,  to  be  gazed  at. 

This  man,  whose  name  has  carried  a  sort  of  terror  through  the 
country  where  it  has  been  sounded,  has  been  distinguished  as  a 
speaker  or  counsellor  rather  than  as  a  warrior ;  and  I  believe  it  has 
been  pretty  generally  admitted,  that  “  Nah-pope  ”  and  the  “  Prophet  ” 
were,  in  fact,  the  instigators  of  the  war ;  and  either  of  them  with 
much  higher  claims  for  the  name  of  warrior  than  Black  Hawk  ever  had. 

When  I  painted  this  chief,  he  was  dressed  in  a  plain  suit  of  buck¬ 
skin,  with  strings  of  wampum  in  his  ears  and  on  his  neck,  and  held  in 
his  hand  his  medicine-bag,  which  was  the  skin  of  a  black  hawk,  from 
which  he  had  taken  his  name,  and  the  tail  of  which  made  him  a  fan, 
which  he  was  almost  constantly  using. 

Fig.  284,  is  the  eldest  son  of  Black  Hawk,  Nah-se-us-Jcuk  (the 


240 


whirling  thunder),  a  very  handsome  young  warrior,  and  one  of  the 
finest-looking  Indians  I  ever  saw.  There  is  a  strong  party  in  the  tribe 
that  is  anxious  to  put  this  young  man  up  ;  and  I  think  it  more  than 
likely,  that  Kee-o-kuk  as  chief  may  fall  ere  long  by  his  hand,  or  by 
some  of  the  tribe,  who  are  anxious  to  reinstate  the  family  of  Black 
Hawk. 

Big.  285,  Wah-pe-Jcec-sucJc  (the  white  cloud),  called  “  the  Prophet," 
is  a  very  distinguished  man,  and  one  of  the  principal  and  leading  men 
of  the  Black  Hawk  party,  and  studying  favour  with  the  whites,  as  will 
be  seen  by  the  manner  in  which  he  was  allowing  his  hair  to  grow  out. 

Pig.  286,  Wee-sheet  (the  sturgeon’s  head),  this  man  held  a  spear  in 
his  hand  when  he  was  being  painted,  with  which  he  assured  me  he 
killed  four  white  men  during  the  war ;  though  I  have  some  doubts  oi 
the  fact. 

Ah-mou-a  (the  whale,  Pig.  287,  and  his  wife,  Fig.  288),  are  also 
fair  specimens  of  this  tribe.  Her  name  is  Wa-quo-the-qua  (the  buck’s 
wife,  or  female  deer),  and  she  was  wrapped  in  a  mackinaw  blanket, 
whilst  he  was  curiously  dressed,  and  held  his  war-club  in  his  hand. 

Pash-ec-pa-ho  (the  little  stabbing  chief,  Fig.  289),  a  very  old  man, 
holding  his  shield,  staff,  and  pipe  in  his  hands ;  has  long  been  the 
head  civil  chief  of  this  tribe ;  but,  as  is  generally  the  case  in  very  old 
age,  he  has  resigned  the  office  to  those  who  are  younger  and  better 
qualified  to  do  the  duties  of  it. 

Besides  the  above-mentioned  personages,  I  painted  also  tho 
following  portraits,  which  are  now  in  my  Collection. 

I-o-way  (the  Ioway),  one  of  Black  Hawk’s  principal  warriors  ;  his 
body  curiously  ornamented  with  his  “  war-paint  ” ;  Pam-a-ho  (the 
swimmer),  one  of  Black  Hawk’s  warriors ;  No-lcuk-qua  (the  bear’s  fat) 
Pcish-ee-pa-ho  (the  little  stabbing  chief,  the  younger),  one  of  Black 
Hawk’s  braves ;  Wah-pa-ko-las-kuk  (the  bear’s  track) ;  Wa-saw-me- 
saw  (the  roaring  thunder),  youngest  son  of  Black  Hawk;  painted 
while  prisoner  of  war. 

Fig.  290,  Kee-o-kuk,  on  horseback.  After  I  had  painted  the 
portrait  of  this  vain  man  at  full  length,  and  which  I  have  already 
introduced,  he  had  the  vanity  to  say  to  me,  that  he  made  a  fine 
appearance  on  horseback,  and  that  he  wished  me  to  paint  him  thus. 
So  I  prepared  my  canvas  in  the  door  of  the  hospital  which  I  occupied 
in  the  dragoon  cantonment ;  and  he  flourished  about  for  a  consider¬ 
able  part  of  the  day  in  front  of  me,  until  the  picture  was  completed. 
The  horse  that  he  rode  was  the  best  animal  on  the  frontier;  a  fine 
blooded  horse,  for  which  he  gave  the  price  of  300  dollars,  a  thing  that 
he  was  quite  able  to,  who  had  the  distribution  of  50,000  dollars- 


158 


II 


II 

| 


J 


283 


284 


285 


2  86 


! 


290 


241 


annuities,  annually,  amongst  his  people.  He  made  a  great  display  on 
this  day,  and  hundreds  of  the  dragoons  and  officers  were  about  him, 
and  looking  on  during  the  operation.  His  horse  was  beautifully 
caparisoned,  and  his  scalps  were  carried  attached  to  the  bridle-bits.* 
The  dances  and  other  amusements  amongst  this  tribe  are  exceed¬ 
ingly  spirited  and  pleasing ;  and  I  have  made  sketches  of  a  number 
of  them,  which  I  briefly  introduce  here,  and  leave  them  for  further 
comments  at  a  future  time,  provided  I  ever  get  leisure  and  space  to 
enable  me  to  do  it. 

The  slave-dance  (Fig.  291),  is  a  picturesque  scene,  and  the  custom 
in  which  it  is  founded  a  very  curious  one.  This  tribe  has  a  society 

*  About  two  years  after  the  above  was  written,  and  the  portrait  painted,  and 
whilst  I  was  giving  Lectures  on  the  Customs  of  the  Indians,  in  the  Stuyvesant 
Institute  in  New  York,  Kee-o-kuk  and  his  wife  and  son,  with  twenty  more  of  the 
chiefs  and  warriors  of  his  tribe,  visited  the  City  of  New  York  on  their  way  to 
Washington  City,  and  were  present  one  evening  at  my  Lecture,  amidst  an  audience 
of  1500  persons.  During  the  Lecture,  I  placed  a  succession  of  portraits  on  my  easel 
before  the  audience,  and  they  were  successively  recognised  by  the  Indians  as  they 
were  shown  ;  and  at  last  I  placed  this  portrait  of  Kee-o-kuk  before  them,  when  they 
all  sprung  up  and  hailed  it  with  a  piercing  yell.  After  the  noise  had  subsided,  Kee- 
o-kuk  arose,  and  addressed  the  audience  in  these  words  : — “  My  friends,  I  hope  you 
will  pardon  my  men  for  making  so  much  noise,  as  they  were  very  much  excited  by 
seeing  me  on  my  favourite  war-horse,  which  they  all  recognised  in  a  moment.” 

I  had  the  satisfaction  then  of  saying  to  the  audience,  that  this  was  very  gratifying 
to  me,  inasmnch  as  many  persons  had  questioned  the  correctness  of  the  picture  of 
the  horse ;  and  some  had  said  in  my  Exhibition  Room,  “  that  it  was  an  imposition — 
that  no  Indian  on  the  frontier  rode  so  good  a  horse.”  This  was  explained  to  Kee-o- 
kuk  by  the  interpreter,  when  he  arose  again  quite  indignant  at  the  thought  that  any 
one  should  doubt  its  correctness,  and  assured  the  audience,  “  that  his  men,  a 
number  of  whom  never  had  heard  that  the  picture  was  painted,  knew  the  horse  the 
moment  it  was  presented ;  and  further,  he  wished  to  know  why  Kee-o-kuk  could  not 
ride  as  good  a  horse  as  any  white  man  ?  ”  He  here  received  a  round  of  applause, 
and  the  interpreter,  Mr  Le  Clair,  rose  and  stated  to  the  audience,  that  he  recognised 
the  horse  the  moment  it  was  shown,  and  that  it  was  a  faithful  portrait  of  the  horse 
that  he  sold  to  Kee-o-kuk  for  300  dollars,  and  that  it  was  the  finest  horse  on  the 
frontier,  belonging  either  to  red  or  white  man. 

In  a  few  minutes  afterwards  I  was  exhibiting  several  of  my  paintings  of  buffalo- 
hunts,  and  describing  the  modes  of  slaying  them  with  bows  and  arrows,  when  I 
made  the  assertion  which  I  had  often  been  in  the  habit  of  making,  that  there  were 
many  instances  where  the  arrow  was  thrown  entirely  through  the  buffalo’s  body ; 
and  that  I  had  several  times  witnessed  this  astonishing  feat.  I  saw  evidently  by  the 
motions  of  my  audience,  that  many  doubted  the  correctness  of  my  assertion  ;  and  I 
appealed  to  Kee-o-kulc.  who  rose  up  when  the  thing  was  explained  to  him,  and  said, 
that  it  had  repeatedly  happened  amongst  his  tribe ;  and  he  believed  that  one  of  his 
young  men  by  his  side  had  done  it.  The  young  man  instantly  stepped  up  on  the 
bench,  and  took  a  bow  from  under  his  robe,  with  which  he  told  the  audience  he  had 
driven  his  arrow  quite  through  a  buffalo’s  body.  And,  there  being  forty  of  the  Sioux 
from  the  Upper  Missouri  also  present,  the  same  question  was  put  to  them,  when  the 
chief  arose,  and  addressing  himself  to  the  audience,  said,  that  it  was  a  thing  very 
often  done  by  the  hunters  in  his  tribe. 

VOL.  II. 


Q 


242 


which  they  call  the  “  slaves ”  composed  of  a  number  of  the  young  men  of 
the  best  families  in  the  tribe,  who  volunteer  to  he  slaves  for  the  term 
of  two  years,  and  subject  to  perform  any  menial  service  that  the 
chief  may  order,  no  matter  how  humiliating  or  how  degrading  it  may 
be ;  by  which,  after  serving  their  two  years,  they  are  exempt  for  the 
rest  of  their  lives,  on  war-parties  or  other  excursions,  or  wherever 
they  may  be — from  all  labour  or  degrading  occupations,  such  as 
cooking,  making  fires,  etc.,  etc. 

These  young  men  elect  one  from  their  numbers  to  be  their  master, 
and  all  agree  to  obey  his  command  whatever  it  may  be,  and  which  is 
given  to  him  by  one  of  the  chiefs  of  the  tribe.  On  a  certain  day  or 
season  of  the  year,  they  have  to  themselves  a  great  feast,  and  prepara¬ 
tory  to  it  the  above-mentioned  dance. 

Smoking  horses  (Fig.  292),  is  another  of  the  peculiar  and  very 
curious  customs  of  this  tribe.  When  General  Street  and  I  arrived 
at  Kee-o-kuk's  village,  we  were  just  in  time  to  see  this  amusing  scene, 
on  the  prairie  a  little  back  of  his  village.  The  Foxes,  who  were 
making  up  a  war-party  to  go  against  the  Sioux,  and  had  not  suitable 
horses  enough  by  twenty,  had  sent  word  to  the  Sacs,  the  day  before 
(according  to  an  ancient  custom),  that  they  were  coming  on  that  day, 
at  a  certain  hour,  to  “  smoke  ”  that  number  of  horses,  and  they  must 
not  fail  to  have  them  ready.  On  that  day,  and  at  the  hour,  the 
twenty  young  men  who  were  beggars  for  horses,  were  on  the  spot, 
and  seated  themselves  on  the  ground  in  a  circle,  where  they  went  to 
smoking.  The  villagers  flocked  around  them  in  a  dense  crowd,  and 
soon  after  appeared  on  the  prairie,  at  half  a  mile  distance,  an  equal 
number  of  young  men  of  the  Sac  tribe,  who  had  agreed  each  to  give 
a  horse,  and  who  were  then  galloping  them  about  at  full  speed ;  and, 
gradually,  as  they  went  around  in  a  circuit,  coming  in  nearer  to  the 
centre,  until  they  were  at  last  close  around  the  ring  of  young  fellows 
seated  on  the  ground.  Whilst  dashing  about  thus,  each  one,  with  a 
heavy  whip  in  his  hand,  as  he  came  within  reach  of  the  group  on  the 
ground,  selected  the  one  to  whom  he  decided  to  present  his  horse, 
and  as  he  passed  him,  gave  him  the  most  tremendous  cut  with  his 
lash,  over  his  naked  shoulders ;  and  as  he  darted  around  again  he 
plied  the  whip  as  before,  and  again  and  again,  with  a  violent  “  crack  !  ” 
until  the  blood  could  be  seen  trickling  down  over  his  naked  shoulders, 
upon  which  he  instantly  dismounted,  and  placed  the  bridle  and  whip 
in  his  hands,  saying,  “  here,  you  are  a  beggar — I  present  you  a  horse, 
but  you  will  carry  my  mark  on  your  back.”  In  this  manner,  they 
were  all  in  a  little  time  “  whipped  up,”  and  each  had  a  good  horse  to 
ride  home,  and  into  battle.  His  necessity  was  such,  that  he  could 


163 


G.  Catlin. 


164 


166 


cvl 


&  Cailht  . 


243 


afford  to  take  the  stripes  and  the  scars  as  the  price  of  the  horse,  and 
the  giver  could  afford  to  make  the  present  for  the  satisfaction  of 
putting  his  mark  upon  the  other,  and  of  boasting  of  his  liberality, 
which  he  has  always  a  right  to  do,  when  going  into  the  dance,  or  on 
other  important  occasions. 

The  Begging  Dance,  (Fig.  293),  is  a  frequent  amusement,  and  one 
that  has  been  practised  with  some  considerable  success  at  this  time, 
whilst  there  have  been  so  many  distinguished  and  liberal  visitors 
here.  It  is  got  up  by  a  number  of  desperate  and  long-winded  fellows, 
who  will  dance  and  yell  their  visitors  into  liberality ;  or,  if  necessary, 
laugh  them  into  it,  by  their  strange  antics,  singing  a  song  of  impor¬ 
tunity,  and  extending  their  hands  for  presents,  which  they  allege  are 
to  gladden  the  hearts  of  the  poor,  and  ensure  a  blessing  to  the  giver. 

The  Sacs  and  Foxes,  like  all  other  Indians,  are  fond  of  living 
along  the  banks  of  rivers  and  streams ;  and  like  all  others  are  expert 
swimmers  and  skilful  canoemen. 

Their  canoes,  like  those  of  the  Sioux  and  many  other  tribes,  are 
dug  out  from  a  log,  and  generally  made  extremely  light ;  and  they 
dart  them  through  the  coves  and  along  the  shores  of  the  rivers,  with 
astonishing  quickness.  I  was  often  amused  at  their  freaks  in  their 
canoes,  whilst  travelling;  and  I  was  induced  to  make  a  sketch  of 
one  which  I  frequently  witnessed,  that  of  sailing  with  the  aid  of  their 
blankets,  which  the  men  carry ;  and  when  the  wind  is  fair,  stand  in 
the  bow  of  the  canoe  and  hold  by  two  corners,  with  the  other  two 
under  the  foot  or  tied  to  the  leg  (Fig.  294) ;  while  the  women  sit  in 
the  other  end  of  the  canoe,  and  steer  it  with  their  paddles. 

The  Discovery  Dance  (Fig.  295),  has  been  given  here,  amongst 
various  others,  and  pleased  the  bystanders  very  much ;  it  was  exceed¬ 
ingly  droll  and  picturesque,  and  acted  out  with  a  great  deal  of 
pantomimic  effect  —  without  music,  or  any  other  noise  than  the 
patting  of  their  feet,  which  all  came  simultaneously  on  the  ground, 
in  perfect  time,  whilst  they  were  dancing  forward  two  or  four  at  a 
time,  in  a  skulking  posture,  overlooking  the  country,  and  professing 
to  announce  the  approach  of  animals  or  enemies  which  they  have 
discovered,  by  giving  the  signals  back  to  the  leader  of  the  dance. 

Dance  to  the  Berdashe  (Fig.  296),  is  a  very  funny  and  amusing 
scene,  which  happens  once  a  year  or  oftener,  as  they  choose,  when  a 
feast  is  given  to  the  “  Berdashe,”  as  he  is  called  in  French  (or  I-coo- 
coo-a,  in  their  own  language),  who  is  a  man  dressed  in  woman’s 
clothes,  as  he  is  known  to  be  all  his  life,  and  for  extraordinary  privi¬ 
leges  which  he  is  known  to  possess,  he  is  driven  to  the  most  servile 
and  degrading  duties,  which  he  is  not  allowed  to  escape;  and  he 


244 


being  the  only  one  of  the  tribe  submitting  to  this  disgraceful  degra¬ 
dation,  is  looked  upon  as  medicine  and  sacred,  and  a  feast  is  given 
to  him  annually ;  and  initiatory  to  it,  a  dance  by  those  few  young 
men  of  the  tribe  who  can,  as  in  the  sketch,  dance  forward  and  pub¬ 
licly  make  their  boast  (without  the  denial  of  the  Berdashe)  that 
Ahg-whi-ee-choos-cum-me  hi-anh-dwax-cumme-ke  on-daig-nun-e  how 
ixt.  Che-ne-a’hkt  ah-pex-ian  I-coo-coo-a  wi-an-gurotst  whow-itcht- 
ne-axt-ar-rah,  ne-axt-gun-he  h’dow-k’s  dow-on-daig-o-ewhiclit  nun- 
go-was-see. 

Such,  and  such  only,  are  allowed  to  enter  the  dance  and  partake 
of  the  feast,  and  as  there  are  but  a  precious  few  in  the  tribe  who 
have  legitimately  gained  this  singular  privilege,  or  willing  to  make  a 
public  confession  of  it,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  society  consists  of 
quite  a  limited  number  of  “  odd  fellows.” 

This  is  one  of  the  most  unaccountable  and  disgusting  customs 
that  I  have  ever  met  in  the  Indian  country,  and  so  far  as  I  have 
been  able  to  learn,  belongs  only  to  the  Sioux  and  Sacs  and  Foxes — 
perhaps  it  is  practised  by  other  tribes,  but  I  did  not  meet  with 
it ;  and  for  further  account  of  it  I  am  constrained  to  refer  the 
reader  to  the  country  where  it  is  practised,  and  where  I  should 
wish  that  it  might  be  extinguished  before  it  be  more  fully  recorded. 

Dance  to  the  Medicine  of  the  Brave  (Fig.  297).  This  is  a  custom 
well  worth  recording,  for  the  beautiful  moral  which  is  contained  in 
it.  In  this  Fig.  is  represented  a  party  of  Sac  warriors  who  have  re¬ 
turned  victorious  from  battle,  with  scalps  they  have  taken  from  their 
enemies,  but  having  lost  one  of  their  party,  they  appear  and  dance 
in  front  of  his  wigwam,  fifteen  days  in  succession,  about  an  hour  on 
each  day,  when  the  widow  hangs  his  medicine-bag  on  a  green  bush 
which  6he  erects  before  her  door,  under  which  she  sits  and  cries, 
whilst  the  warriors  dance  and  brandish  the  scalps  they  have  taken, 
and  at  the  same  time  recount  the  deeds  of  bravery  of  their  deceased 
comrade  in  arms,  whilst  they  are  throwing  presents  to  the  widow  to 
heal  her  grief  and  afford  her  the  means  of  a  living. 

The  Sacs  and  Foxes  are  already  drawing  an  annuity  of  27,000 
dollars,  for  thirty  years  to  come,  in  cash ;  and  by  the  present  Treaty 
just  concluded,  that  amount  will  be  enlarged  to  37,000  dollars  per 
annum.  This  Treaty  with  the  Sacs  and  Foxes,  held  at  Bock  Island, 
was  for  the  purchase  of  a  tract  of  land  of  256,000  acres,  lying  on  the 
Ioway  river,  west  of  the  Mississippi,  a  reserve  which  was  made  in 
the  tract  of  land  conveyed  to  the  Government  by  Treaty  after  the 
Sac  war,  and  known  as  the  “  Black  Hawk  Purchase.”  The  Treaty 
has  been  completed  by  Governor  Dodge,  by  stipulating  on  the  part  of 


168 


245 


Government  to  pay  them  seventy-five  cents  per  acre  for  the  reserve 
(amounting  to  192,000  dollars),  in  the  manner  and  form  following: — 

Thirty  thousand  dollars  to  be  paid  in  specie  in  June  next,  at  the 
Treaty-ground ;  and  ten  thousand  dollars  annually,  for  ten  years  to 
come,  at  the  same  place,  and  in  the  same  manner ;  and  the  remaining 
sixty-two  thousand  in  the  payment  of  their  debts,  and  some  little 
donations  to  widows  and  half-breed  children.  The  American  Fur 
Company  was  their  principal  creditor,  whose  account  for  goods  ad¬ 
vanced  on  credit,  they  admitted,  to  the  amount  of  nearly  fifty 
thousand  dollars.  It  was  stipulated  by  an  article  in  the  Treaty  that 
one  half  of  these  demands  should  be  paid  in  cash  as  soon  as  the 
Treaty  should  be  ratified — and  that  five  thousand  dollars  should 
he  appropriated  annually,  for  their  liquidation,  until  they  were  paid 
off. 

It  was  proposed  by  Kee-o-kuk  in  his  speech  (and  it  is  a  fact 
worthy  of  being  known,  for  such  has  been  the  proposition  in  every 
Indian  Treaty  that  I  ever  attended),  that  the  first  preparatory  stipu¬ 
lation  on  the  part  of  Government,  should  be  to  pay  the  requisite 
sum  of  money  to  satisfy  all  their  creditors,  who  were  then  pre¬ 
sent,  and  whose  accounts  were  handed  in,  acknowledged  and  ad¬ 
mitted. 

The  price  paid  for  this  tract  of  land  is  a  liberal  one,  compara¬ 
tively  speaking,  for  the  usual  price  heretofore  paid  for  Indian  lands 
has  been  one-and-a-half  or  three-quarter  cents  (instead  of  seventy- 
five  cents)  per  acre,  for  land  which  Government  has  since  sold  out 
for  ten  shillings. 

Even  one  dollar  per  acre  would  not  have  been  too  much  to  have 
paid  for  this  tract,  for  every  acre  of  it  can  be  sold  in  one  year,  for  ten 
shillings  per  acre,  to  actual  settlers,  so  desirable  and  so  fertile  is  the 
tract  of  country  purchased.  These  very  people  sold  to  Government 
a  great  part  of  the  rich  states  of  Illinois  and  Missouri,  at  the  low 
rates  above  mentioned ;  and  this  small  tract  being  the  last  that  they 
can  ever  part  with,  without  throwing  themselves  back  upon  their 
natural  enemies,  it  was  no  more  than  right  that  Government  should 
deal  with  them,  as  they  have  done,  liberally. 

As  an  evidence  of  the  immediate  value  of  that  tract  of  land  to 
Government,  and,  as  a  striking  instance  of  the  overwhelming  torrent 
of  emigration,  to  the  “Far  West,”  I  will  relate  the  following  occur¬ 
rence  which  took  place  at  the  close  of  the  Treaty : — After  the  Treaty 
was  signed  and  witnessed,  Governor  Dodge  addressed  a  few  very 
judicious  and  admonitory  sentences  to  the  chiefs  and  braves,  which 
he  finished  by  requesting  them  to  move  their  families,  and  all  their 


246 


property  from  this  tract,  within  one  month,  which  time  he  would 
allow  them,  to  make  room  for  the  whites. 

Considerable  excitement  was  created  among  the  chiefs  and 
braves  by  this  suggestion,  and  a  hearty  laugh  ensued,  the  cause 
of  which  was  soon  after  explained  by  one  of  them  in  the  follow¬ 
ing  manner: — 

My  father,  we  have  to  laugh — we  require  no  time  to  move — we 
have  all  left  the  lands  already,  and  sold  our  wigwams  to  Chemoke- 
mons  (white  men) — some  for  one  hundred,  and  some  for  two  hundred 
dollars,  before  we  came  to  this  Treaty.  There  are  already  four 
hundred  Chemokemons  on  the  land,  and  several  hundred  more  on 
their  way  moving  in;  and  three  days  before  we  came  away,  one 
Chemokemon  sold  his  wigwam  to  another  Chemokemon  for  two. 
thousand  dollars,  to  build  a  great  town.” 

In  this  wise  is  this  fair  land  filling  up,  one  hundred  miles  or 
more  west  of  the  Mississippi — not  with  barbarians,  but  with  people 
from  the  East,  enlightened  and  intelligent — with  industry  and  per¬ 
severance  that  will  soon  rear  from  the  soil  all  the  luxuries,  and  add 
to  the  surface,  all  the  taste  and  comforts  of  Eastern  refinement. 

The  Treaty  itself,  in  all  its  forms,  was  a  scene  of  interest,  and 
Kee-o-liulc  was  the  principal  speaker  on  the  occasion,  being  recognised 
as  the  head-chief  of  the  tribe.  He  is  a  very  subtle  and  dignified 
man,  and  well  fitted  to  wield  the  destinies  of  his  nation.  The  poor 
dethroned  monarch,  old  Black  Hawk,  was  present,  and  looked  an 
object  of  pity.  With  an  old  frock  coat  and  brown  hat  on,  and  a 
cane  in  his  hand,  he  stood  the  whole  time  outside  of  the  group,  and 
in  dumb  and  dismal  silence,  with  his  sons  by  the  side  of  him,  and 
also  his  quondam  aide-de-camp,  Nah-pope,  and  the  prophet.  They 
were  not  allowed  to  speak,  nor  even  to  sign  the  Treaty.  Nah-pope 
rose,  however,  and  commenced  a  very  earnest  speech  on  the  subject 
of  temperance, !  but  Governor  Dodge  ordered  him  to  sit  down  (as 
being  out  of  order),  which  probably  saved  him  from  a  much  more 
peremptory  command  from  Kee-o-icuh,  who  was  rising  at  that 
moment,  with  looks  on  his  face  that  the  Devil  himself  might  have 
shrunk  from.  This  Letter  I  must  end  here,  observing,  before  I  say 
adieu,  that  I  have  been  catering  for  the  public  during  this  summer 
at  a  difficult  (and  almost  cruel)  rate  ;  and  if,  in  my  over-exertions  to 
grasp  at  material  for  their  future  entertainment,  the  cold  hand  of 
winter  should  be  prematurely  laid  upon  me  and  my  works  in  this 
Horthern  region,  the  world,  I  am  sure,  will  be  disposed  to  pity, 
rather  than  censure  me  for  my  delay. 


LETTER— No.  57 


FORT  MOULTRIE,  SOUTH  CAROLINA 

Since  the  date  of  my  last  Letter,  I  have  been  a  wanderer  as  usual, 
and  am  now  at  least  2000  miles  from  the  place  where  it  was  dated. 
At  this  place  are  held  250  of  the  Seminolees  and  Euchees,  prisoners 
of  war,  who  are  to  be  kept  here  awhile  longer,  and  transferred  to  the 
country  assigned  them,  700  miles  west  of  the  Mississippi,  and  1400 
from  this.  The  famous  Os-ce-o-la  is  amongst  the  prisoners ;  and  also 
MicJc-e-no-pah,  the  head-chief  of  the  tribe,  and  Cloud,  King  Phillip, 
and  several  others  of  the  distinguished  men  of  the  nation,  who  have 
celebrated  themselves  in  the  war  that  is  now  waging  with  the 
United  States  Government. 

There  is  scarcely  any  need  of  my  undertaking  in  an  epistle  of 
this  kind,  to  give  a  full  account  of  this  tribe,  of  their  early  history— 
of  their  former  or  present  location — or  of  their  present  condition, 
and  the  disastrous  war  they  are  now  waging  with  the  United  States 
Government,  who  have  held  an  invading  army  in  their  country  for 
four  or  five  years,  endeavouring  to  dispossess  them  and  compel  them 
to  remove  to  the  West,  in  compliance  with  Treaty  stipulations. 
These  are  subjects  generally  understood  already  (being  matters  of 
history),  and  I  leave  them  to  the  hands  of  those  who  will  do  them 
more  complete  justice  than  I  could  think  of  doing  at  this  time,  with 
the  little  space  that  I  could  allow  them ;  in  the  confident  hope  that 
justice  may  be  meted  out  to  them,  at  least  by  the  historian,  if  it 
should  not  be  by  their  great  Guardian,  who  takes  it  upon  herself,  as 
with  all  the  tribes,  affectionately  to  call  them  her  “  red  children." 

For  those  who  know  nothing  of  the  Seminolees,  it  may  be  proper 
for  me  here  just  to  remark,  that  they  are  a  tribe  of  three  or  four 
thousand;  occupying  the  peninsula  of  Florida — and  speaking  the 
language  of  the  Creeks,  of  whom  I  have  heretofore  spoken,  and 
who  were  once  a  part  of  the  same  tribe. 

The  word  Seminolee  is  a  Creek  word,  signifying  runaways;  a 
name  which  was  given  to  a  part  of  the  Creek  nation,  who  emigrated 
in  a  body  to  a  country  farther  South,  where  they  have  lived  to  the 
present  day;  and  continually  extended  their  dominions  by  over¬ 
running  the  once  numerous  tribe  that  occupied  the  southern  extremity 

247 


248 


of  the  Florida  Cape,  called  the  Euchees;  whom  they  have  at  last 
nearly  annihilated,  and  taken  the  mere  remnant  of  them  in,  as  a 
part  of  their  tribe.  With  this  tribe  the  Government  have  been 
engaged  in  deadly  and  disastrous  warfare  for  four  or  five  years; 
endeavouring  to  remove  them  from  their  lands,  in  compliance  with 
a  Treaty  stipulation,  which  the  Government  claims  to  have  been 
justly  made,  and  which  the  Seminolees  aver,  was  not.  Many  millions 
of  money,  and  some  hundreds  of  lives  of  officers  and  men  have 
already  been  expended  in  the  attempt  to  dislodge  them;  and  much 
more  will  doubtless  be  yet  spent  before  they  can  be  removed  from 
their  almost  impenetrable  swamps  and  hiding-places,  to  which  they 
can,  for  years  to  come,  retreat ;  and  from  which  they  will  be  enabled, 
and  no  doubt  disposed,  in  their  exasperated  state,  to  make  continual 
sallies  upon  the  unsuspecting  and  defenceless  inhabitants  of  the 
country;  carrying  their  relentless  feelings  to  be  reeked  in  cruel 
vengeance  on  the  unoffending  and  innocent.* 

The  prisoners  who  are  held  here,  to  the  number  of  250,  men, 
women,  and  children,  have  been  captured  during  the  recent  part  of 
this  warfare,  and  amongst  them  the  distinguished  personages  whom 
I  named  a  few  moments  since ;  of  these,  the  most  conspicuous  at  this 
time  is  Os-ce-o-la  (Fig.  298),  commonly  called  Powell,  as  he  is 
generally  supposed  to  be  a  half-breed,  the  son  of  a  white  man  (by 
that  name),  and  a  Creek  woman. 

I  have  painted  him  precisely  in  the  costume  in  which  he  stood 
for  his  picture,  even  to  a  string  and  a  trinket.  He  wore  three 
ostrich  feathers  in  his  head,  and  a  turban  made  of  a  vari-coloured 
cotton  shawl — and  his  dress  was  chiefly  of  calicos,  with  a  handsome 
bead  sash  or  belt  around  his  waist,  and  his  rifle  in  his  hand. 

This  young  man  is,  no  doubt,  an  extraordinary  character,  as  he  has 
been  for  some  years  reputed,  and  doubtless  looked  upon  by  the 

*  The  above  Letter  was  written  in  the  winter  of  1838,  and  by  the  Secretary  of 
War's  Report,  a  year  and  a  half  ago,  it  is  seen  that  36,000,000  of  dollars  had  been 
already  expended  in  the  Seminolee  war,  as  well  as  the  lives  of  1200  or  1400  officers  and 
men,  and  defenceless  inhabitants,  who  have  fallen  victims  to  the  violence  of  the 
enraged  savages  and  diseases  of  the  climate.  And  at  the  present  date,  August 
1841,  I  see  by  the  American  papers,  that  the  war  is  being  prosecuted  at  this  time 
with  its  wonted  vigour ;  and  that  the  best  troops  in  our  country,  and  the  lives  of 
our  most  valued  officers  are  yet  jeoparised  in  the  deadly  swamps  of  Florida,  with 
little  more  certainty  of  a  speedy  termination  of  the  war,  than  there  appeared  five 
years  ago. 

The  world  will  pardon  me  for  saying  no  more  of  this  inglorious  war,  for  it  will  be 
seen  that  I  am  too  near  the  end  of  my  book,  to  afford  it  the  requisite  space  ;  and  as 
an  American  citizen,  I  would  pray,  amongst  thousands  of  others,  that  all  books  yet 
to  be  made,  might  have  as  good  an  excuse  for  leaving  it  out. 


169 


250 


where  he  gets  enough  to  eat,  and  an  occasional  drink  of  whiskey  from 
the  officers,  with  whom  he  is  a  great  favourite. 

Ee-mat-la  (“King  Phillip,”  Fig.  300)  is  also  a  very  aged  chief, 
who  has  been  a  man  of  great  notoriety  and  distinction  in  his  time, 
but  has  now  got  too  old  for  further  warlike  enterprise.* 

Co-ee-ha-jo  (Fig.  301),  is  another  chief  who  has  been  a  long  time 
distinguished  in  the  tribe,  having  signalised  himself  very  much  by 
his  feats  in  the  present  war. 

Za-shee  (the  licker,  Fig.  302),  commonly  called  “  Creek  Billy,” 
is  a  distinguished  brave  of  the  tribe,  and  a  very  handsome  fellow. 

Fig.  303,  is  the  portrait  of  a  Seminolee  boy,  about  nine  years  of 
age ;  f  and  Fig.  304,  a  Seminolee  woman. 

Mick-e-no-pah  (Fig.  305),  is  the  head-chief  of  the  tribe,  and  a  very 
lusty  and  dignified  man.  He  took  great  pleasure  in  being  present 
every  day  in  my  room,  whilst  I  was  painting  the  others ;  but  posi¬ 
tively  refused  to  be  painted,  until  he  found  that  a  bottle  of  whiskey, 
and  another  of  wine,  which  I  kept  on  my  mantelpiece,  by  permission 
of  my  kind  friend  Captain  Morrison,  were  only  to  deal  out  their 
occasional  kindnesses  to  those  who  sat  for  their  portraits ;  when  he 
at  length  agreed  to  be  painted,  “  if  I  could  make  a  fair  likeness  of 
his  legs,"  which  he  had  very  tastefully  dressed  in  a  handsome  pair 
of  red  leggings,  and  upon  which  I  at  once  began  (as  he  sat  cross- 
legged),  by  painting  them  on  the  lower  part  of  the  canvas,  leaving 
room  for  his  body  and  head  above ;  all  of  which,  through  the  irresist¬ 
ible  influence  of  a  few  kindnesses  from  my  bottle  of  wine,  I  soon  had 
fastened  to  the  canvas,  where  they  will  firmly  stand,  I  trust,  for  some 
hundreds  of  years. 

Since  I  finished  my  portrait  of  Os-ce-o-la,  and  since  writing  the 
first  part  of  this  Letter,  he  has  been  extremely  sick,  and  lies  so  yet, 
with  an  alarming  attack  of  the  quinsy  or  putrid  sore  throat,  which 
will  probably  end  his  career  in  a  few  days.  Two  or  three  times  the 
surgeon  has  sent  for  the  officers  of  the  garrison  and  myself,  to  come 

*  This  veteran  old  warrior  died  a  few  weeks  after  I  painted  his  portrait,  whilst 
on  his  way,  with  the  rest  of  the  prisoners,  to  the  Arkansas. 

t  This  remarkably  fine  boy,  by  the  name  of  Os-ce-o-la  Nick-a-no-chee,  has 
recently  been  brought  from  America  to  London,  by  Dr  Welch,  an  Englishman, 
who  has  been  for  several  years  residing  in  Florida.  The  boy  it  seems,  was  captured 
by  the  United  States  troops,  at  the  age  of  six  years  :  but  how  my  friend  the  doctor 
got  possession  of  him,  and  leave  to  bring  him  away  I  never  have  heard.  He  is 
acting  a  very  praiseworthy  part,  however,  by  the  parental  fondness  he  evinces  for 
the  child,  and  fairly  proves,  by  the  very  great  pains  he  is  taking  with  his  educa¬ 
tion.  The  doctor  has  published  recently,  a  very  neat  volume,  containing  the  boy’s 
history  ;  and  also  a  much  fuller  account  of  Os-ce-o-la,  and  incidents  of  the  Florida 
war,  to  which  I  would  refer  the  reader. 


./  70 


302 


G.Oxduv 


17  2 


305 

G.  CctMin, 


\ 


251 


and  see  him  “  dying  ” — we  were  with  him  the  night  before  last  till 
the  middle  of  the  night,  every  moment  expecting  his  death ;  but  he 
has  improved  during  the  last  twenty-four  hours,  and  there  is  some 
slight  prospect  of  his  recovery.*  The  steamer  starts  to-morrow 
morning  for  New  York,  and  I  must  use  the  opportunity ;  so  I  shall 
from  necessity,  leave  the  subject  of  Os-ce-o-la  and  the  Seminolees 
for  future  consideration.  Adieu. 

*  From  accounts  which  left  Fort  Moultrie  a  few  days  after  I  returned  home,  it 
seems,  that  this  ill-fated  warrior  died,  a  prisoner,  the  next  morning  after  I  left  him. 
And  the  following  very  interesting  account  of  his  last  moments,  was  furnished  me 
by  Dr  Weedon,  the  surgeon  who  was  by  him,  with  the  officers  of  the  garrison,  at 
Os-ce-o-la’s  request : — 

“About  half  an  hour  before  he  died,  he  seemed  to  be  sensible  that  he  was 
dying ;  and  although  he  could  not  speak,  he  signified  by  signs  that  he  wished  me 
to  send  for  the  chiefs  and  for  the  officers  of  the  post,  whom  I  called  in.  He  made 
signs  to  his  wives  (of  whom  he  had  two,  and  also  two  fine  little  children  by  his 
side),  to  go  and  bring  his  full  dress,  which  he  wore  in  time  of  war ;  which  having 
been  brought  in,  he  rose  up  in  his  bed,  which  was  on  the  floor,  and  put  on  his 
shirt,  his  leggings  and  moccasins — girded  on  his  war-belt — his  bullet-pouch  and 
powder-horn,  and  laid  his  knife  by  the  side  of  him  on  the  floor.  He  then  called  for 
his  red  paint,  and  his  looking-glass,  which  was  held  before  him,  when  he  deliberately 
painted  one  half  of  his  face,  his  neck  and  his  throat — his  wrists — the  backs  of  his 
hands,  and  the  handle  of  his  knife,  red  with  vermilion  ;  a  custom  practised  when 
the  irrevocable  oath  of  war  and  destruction  is  taken.  His  knife  he  then  placed  in 
its  sheath,  under  his  belt;  and  he  carefully  arranged  his  turban  on  his  head,  and 
his  three  ostrich  plumes  that  he  was  in  the  habit  of  wearing  in  it  Being  thus  pre¬ 
pared  in  full  dress,  he  lay  down  a  few  minutes  to  recover  strength  sufficient,  when 
he  rose  up  as  before,  and  with  most  benignant  and  pleasing  smiles,  extended  his 
hand  to  me  and  to  all  of  the  officers  and  chiefs  that  were  around  him  ;  and  shook 
hands  with  us  all  in  dead  silence ;  and  also  with  his  wives  and  his  little  children  ; 
he  made  a  signal  for  them  to  lower  him  down  upon  his  bed,  which  was  done,  and 
he  then  slowly  drew  from  his  war-belt,  his  scalping-knife,  which  he  firmly  grasped 
in  his  right  hand,  laying  it  across  the  other,  on  his  breast,  and  in  a  moment  smiled 
away  his  last  breath,  without  a  struggle  or  a  groan.” 


LETTER— No.  58 


NORTH-WESTERN  FRONTIER 

Having  finished  my  travels  in  the  “Far  West”  for  awhile,  and  being 
detained  a  little  time,  sans  occupation,  in  my  nineteenth  or  twentieth 
transit  of  what,  in  common  parlance  is  denominated  the  Frontier; 
I  have  seated  myself  down  to  give  some  further  account  of  it,  and 
of  the  doings  and  habits  of  people,  both  red  and  white,  who  live 
upon  it. 

The  Frontier  may  properly  he  denominated  the  fleeting  and  un¬ 
settled  line  extending  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the  Lake  of  the 
Woods,  a  distance  of  three  thousand  miles;  which  indefinitely 
separates  civilised  from  Indian  population — a  moving  barrier,  where 
the  unrestrained  and  natural  propensities  of  two  people  are  concen¬ 
trated,  in  an  atmosphere  of  lawless  iniquity,  that  offends  Heaven, 
and  holds  in  mutual  ignorance  of  each  other,  the  honourable  and 
virtuous  portions  of  two  people,  which  seem  destined  never  to  meet. 

From  what  has  been  said  in  the  foregoing  epistles,  the  reader  will 
agree  that  I  have  pretty  closely  adhered  to  my  promise  made  in  the 
commencement  of  them ;  that  I  should  confine  my  remarks  chiefly 
to  people  I  have  visited,  and  customs  that  I  have  seen,  rather  than 
by  taking  up  his  time  with  matter  that  might  be  gleaned  from  books 
He  will  also  agree,  that  I  have  principally  devoted  my  pages,  as  I 
promised,  to  an  account  of  the  condition  and  customs  of  those  Indians 
whom  I  have  found  entirely  beyond  the  Frontier,  acting  and  living 
as  Nature  taught  them  to  live  and  act,  without  the  examples,  and 
consequently  without  the  taints  of  civilised  encroachments. 

He  will,  I  flatter  myself,  also  yield  me  some  credit  for  devoting 
the  time  and  space  I  have  occupied  in  my  first  appeal  to  the  world, 
entirely  to  the  condition  and  actions  of  the  living,  rather  than 
fatiguing  him  with  theories  of  the  living  or  the  dead.  I  have  theories 
enough  of  my  own,  and  have  as  closely  examined  the  condition  and 
customs  of  these  people  on  the  Frontier,  as  of  those  living  beyond 
it — and  also  their  past  and  present,  and  prospective  history;  but 
the  reader  will  have  learned,  that  my  chief  object  in  these  Letters, 
has  been  not  only  to  describe  what  I  have  seen,  hut  of  those  things, 
such  as  I  deemed  the  most  novel  and  least  understood ;  which  has, 

252 


253 


cf  course,  confined  my  remarks  heretofore,  mostly  to  the  character 
and  condition  of  those  tribes  living  entirely  in  a  state  of  Nature. 

And  as  I  have  now  a  little  leisure,  and  no  particular  tribes  before 
me  to  speak  of,  the  reader  will  allow  me  to  glance  my  eye  over  the 
whole  Indian  country  for  awhile,  both  along  the  Frontier  and  beyond 
it ;  taking  a  hasty  and  brief  survey  of  them,  and  their  prospects  in 
the  aggregate  ;  and  by  not  seeing  quite  as  distinctly  as  I  have  been 
in  the  habit  of  doing  heretofore,  taking  pains  to  tell  a  little  more 
emphatically  what  I  think,  and  what  I  have  thought  of  those  things 
that  I  have  seen,  and  yet  have  told  but  in  part. 

I  have  seen  a  vast  many  of  these  wild  people  in  my  travels,  it 
will  be  admitted  by  all.  And  I  have  had  toils  and  difficulties,  and 
dangers  to  encounter  in  paying  them  my  visits ;  yet  I  have  had  my 
pleasures  as  I  went  along,  in  shaking  their  friendly  hands,  that  never 
had  felt  the  contaminating  touch  of  money,  or  the  withering  embrace 
of  pockets ;  I  have  shared  the  comforts  of  their  hospitable  wigwams, 
and  always  have  been  preserved  unharmed  in  their  country.  And  if 
I  have  spoken,  or  am  to  speak  of  them,  with  a  seeming  bias,  the 
reader  will  know  what  allowance  to  make  for  me,  who  am  standing 
as  the  champion  of  a  people,  who  have  treated  me  kindly,  of  whom 
I  feel  bound  to  speak  well ;  and  who  have  no  means  of  speaking  for 
themselves. 

Of  the  dead,  to  speak  kindly,  and  to  their  character  to  render 
justice,  is  always  a  praiseworthy  act ;  but  it  is  yet  far  more  charitable 
to  extend  the  hand  of  liberality,  or  to  hold  the  scale  of  justice,  to  the 
living,  who  are  able  to  feel  the  benefit  of  it.  Justice  to  the  dead  is 
generally  a  charity,  inasmuch  as  it  is  a  kindness  to  living  friends ; 
but  to  the  poor  Indian  dead,  if  it  is  meted  out  at  all,  which  is  seldom 
the  case,  it  is  thrown  to  the  grave  with  him,  where  he  has  generally 
gone  without  friends  left  behind  him  to  inherit  the  little  fame  that 
is  reluctantly  allowed  him  while  living,  and  much  less  likely  to  be 
awarded  to  him  when  dead.  Of  the  thousands  and  millions,  there¬ 
fore,  of  these  poor  fellows  who  are  dead,  and  whom  we  have  thrown 
into  their  graves,  there  is  nothing  that  I  could  now  say,  that  would 
do  them  any  good,  or  that  would  not  answer  the  world  as  well  at  a 
future  time  as  at  the  present;  while  there  is  a  debt  that  we  are 
owing  to  those  of  them  who  are  yet  living,  which  I  think  justly 
demands  our  attention,  and  all  our  sympathies  at  this  moment. 

The  peculiar  condition  in  which  we  are  obliged  to  contemplate 
these  most  unfortunate  people  at  this  time — hastening  to  destruction 
and  extinction,  as  they  evidently  are,  lays  an  uncompromising  claim 
upon  the  sympathies  of  the  civilised  world,  and  gives  a  deep  interest 


254 


and  value  to  such  records  as  are  truly  made— setting  up,  and  per¬ 
petuating  from  the  life,  their  true  native  character  and  customs. 

If  the  great  family  of  North  American  Indians  were  all  dying 
by  a  scourge  or  epidemic  of  the  country,  it  would  be  natural,  and 
a  virtue,  to  weep  for  them;  but  merely  to  sympathise  with  them 
(and  but  partially  to  do  that)  when  they  are  dying  at  our  hands,  and 
rendering  their  glebe  to  our  possession,  would  be  to  subvert  the 
simplest  law  of  Nature,  and  turn  civilised  man,  with  all  his  boasted 
virtues,  back  to  worse  than  savage  barbarism. 

Justice  to  a  nation  who  are  dying,  need  never  be  expected  from 
the  hands  of  their  destroyers;  and  where  injustice  and  injury  are 
visited  upon  the  weak  and  defenceless,  from  ten  thousand  hands — 
from  Governments — monopolies  and  individuals — the  offence  is  lost 
in  the  inseverable  iniquity  in  which  all  join,  and  for  which  nobody  is 
answerable,  unless  it  be  for  their  respective  amounts,  at  a  final  day 
of  retribution. 

Long  and  cruel  experience  has  well  proved  that  it  is  impossible 
for  enlightened  Governments  or  money-making  individuals  to  deal 
with  these  credulous  and  unsophisticated  people,  without  the  sin  of 
injustice ;  but  the  humble  biographer  or  historian,  who  goes  amongst 
them  from  a  different  motive,  may  come  out  of  their  country  with  his 
hands  and  his  conscience  clean,  and  himself  an  anomaly,  a  white  man 
dealing  with  Indians,  and  meting  out  justice  to  them  ;  which  I  hope 
it  may  be  my  good  province  to  do  with  my  pen  and  my  brush,  with 
which,  at  least,  I  will  have  the  singular  and  valuable  satisfaction  of 
having  done  them  no  harm. 

With  this  view,  and  a  desire  to  render  justice  to  my  readers  also, 
I  have  much  yet  to  say  of  the  general  appearance  and  character  of 
the  Indians — of  their  condition  and  treatment ;  and  far  more,  I  fear, 
than  I  can  allot  to  the  little  space  I  have  designed  for  the  completion 
of  these  epistles. 

Of  the  general  airpearance  of  the  North  American  Indians,  much 
might  be  yet  said,  that  would  be  new  and  instructive.  In  stature,  as 
I  have  already  said,  there  are  some  of  the  tribes  that  are  considerably 
above  the  ordinary  height  of  man,  and  others  that  are  evidently  below 
it ;  allowing  their  average  to  be  about  equal  to  that  of  their  fellow- 
men  in  the  civilised  world.  In  girth  they  are  less,  and  lighter  in 
their  limbs,  and  almost  entirely  free  from  corpulency  or  useless  flesh. 
Their  bones  are  lighter,  their  skulls  are  thinner,  and  their  muscles 
less  hard  than  those  of  their  civilised  neighbours,  excepting  in  the 
legs  and  feet,  where  they  are  brought  into  more  continual  action  by 
their  violent  exercise  on  foot  and  on  horseback,  which  swells  the 


255 


muscles  and  gives  them  great  strength  in  those  limbs,  which  is  often 
quite  as  conspicuous  as  the  extraordinary  development  of  muscles  in 
the  shoulders  and  arms  of  our  labouring  men. 

Although  the  Indians  are  generally  narrow  in  the  shoulders,  and 
less  powerful  with  the  arms,  yet  it  does  not  always  happen  by  any 
means,  that  they  are  so  effeminate  as  they  look,  and  so  widely  inferior 
in  brachial  strength  as  the  spectator  is  apt  to  believe,  from  the  smooth 
and  rounded  appearance  of  their  limbs.  The  contrast  between  one  of 
our  labouring  men  when  he  denudes  his  limbs,  and  the  figure  of  a 
naked  Indian  is  to  be  sure  very  striking,  and  entirely  too  much  so, 
for  the  actual  difference  in  the  power  of  the  two  persons.  There  are 
several  reasons  for  this  which  account  for  so  disproportionate  a  con¬ 
trast,  and  should  be  named. 

The  labouring  man,  who  is  using  his  limbs  the  greater  part  of  his 
life  in  lifting  heavy  weights,  etc.,  sweats  them  with  the  weight  of 
clothes  which  he  has  on  him,  which  softens  the  integuments  and  the 
flesh,  leaving  the  muscles  to  stand  out  in  more  conspicuous  relief 
when  they  are  exposed ;  whilst  the  Indian,  who  exercises  his  limbs 
for  the  most  of  his  life,  denuded  and  exposed  to  the  air,  gets  over 
his  muscles  a  thicker  and  more  compact  layer  of  integuments  which 
hide  them  from  the  view,  leaving  the  casual  spectator,  who  sees  them 
only  at  rest,  to  suppose  them  too  decidedly  inferior  to  those  which  are 
found  amongst  people  of  his  own  colour.  Of  muscular  strength  in  the 
legs,  I  have  met  many  of  the  most  extraordinary  instances  in  the 
Indian  country,  that  ever  I  have  seen  in  my  life ;  and  I  have  watched 
and  studied  such  for  hours  together,  with  utter  surprise  and  admira¬ 
tion,  in  the  violent  exertions  of  their  dances,  where  they  leap  and 
jump  with  every  nerve  strung,  and  every  muscle  swelled,  till  their 
legs  will  often  look  like  a  bundle  of  ropes,  rather  than  a  mass  of 
human  flesh.  And  from  all  that  I  have  seen,  I  am  inclined  to  say, 
that  whatever  differences  there  may  be  between  the  North  American 
Indians  and  their  civilised  neighbours  in  the  above  respects,  they  are 
decidedly  the  results  of  different  habits  of  life  and  modes  of  education 
rather  than  of  any  difference  in  constitution.  And  I  would  also 
venture  the  assertion,  that  he  who  would  see  the  Indian  in  a  con¬ 
dition  to  judge  of  his  muscles,  must  see  him  in  motion ;  and  he  who 
would  get  a  perfect  study  for  an  Hercules  or  an  Atlas,  should  take  a 
stone-mason  for  the  upper  part  of  his  figure,  and  a  Camanchee  or  a 
Blackfoot  Indian  from  the  waist  downwards  to  the  feet. 

There  is  a  general  and  striking  character  in  the  facial  outline  of 
the  North  American  Indians,  which  is  bold  and  free,  and  would  seem 
at  once  to  stamp  them  as  distinct  from  natives  of  other  parts  of  the 


256 


world.  Their  noses  are  generally  prominent  and  aquiline— and  the 
whole  face,  if  divested  of  paint  and  of  copper-colour,  would  seem  to 
approach  to  the  bold  and  European  character.  Many  travellers  have 
thought  that  their  eyes  were  smaller  than  those  of  Europeans; 
and  there  is  good  cause  for  one  to  believe  so,  if  he  judges  from  first 
impressions,  without  taking  pains  to  inquire  into  the  truth  and  causes 
of  things.  I  have  been  struck,  as  most  travellers  no  doubt  have,  with 
the  want  of  expansion  and  apparent  smallness  of  the  Indians’  eyes, 
which  I  have  found  upon  examination,  to  be  principally  the  effect  of 
continual  exposure  to  the  rays  of  the  sun  and  the  wind,  without  the 
shields  that  are  used  by  the  civilised  world ;  and  also  when  in-doors, 
and  free  from  those  causes,  subjected  generally  to  one  more  distress¬ 
ing,  and  calculated  to  produce  similar  results,  the  smoke  that  almost 
continually  hangs  about  their  wigwams,  which  necessarily  contracts 
the  lids  of  the  eyes,  forbidding  that  full  flame  and  expansion  of  the 
eye,  that  the  cool  and  clear  shades  of  our  civilised  domiciles  are  calcu¬ 
lated  to  promote. 

The  teeth  of  the  Indians  are  generally  regular  and  sound,  and 
wonderfully  preserved  to  old  age,  owing,  no  doubt,  to  the  fact  that 
they  live  without  the  spices  of  life — without  saccharine  and  without 
salt,  which  are  equally  destructive  to  teeth,  in  civilised  communities. 
Their  teeth,  though  sound,  are  not  white,  having  a  yellowish  cast ;  but 
for  the  same  reason  that  a  negro’s  teeth  are  “  like  ivory,”  they  look 
white — set  as  they  are  in  bronze,  as  any  one  with  a  tolerable  set  of 
teeth  can  easily  test,  by  painting  his  face  the  colour  of  an  Indian, 
and  grinning  for  a  moment  in  his  looking-glass. 

Beards  they  generally  have  not — esteeming  them  great  vulgarities, 
and  using  every  possible  means  to  eradicate  them  whenever  they  are 
so  unfortunate  as  to  be  annoyed  with  them.  Different  writers  have 
been  very  much  at  variance  on  this  subject  ever  since  the  first 
accounts  given  of  these  people ;  and  there  seems  still  an  unsatisfied 
curiosity  on  the  subject,  which  I  would  be  glad  to  say  that  I  could 
put  entirely  at  rest. 

From  the  best  information  that  I  could  obtain  amongst  forty-eight 
tribes  that  I  have  visited,  I  feel  authorised  to  say,  that,  amongst  the 
wild  tribes,  where  they  have  made  no  efforts  to  imitate  white  men,  at 
least,  the  proportion  of  eighteen  out  of  twenty,  by  nature  are  entirely 
without  the  appearance  of  a  beard;  and  of  the  very  few  who  have 
them  by  nature,  nineteen  out  of  twenty  eradicate  it  by  plucking  it 
out  several  times  in  succession,  precisely  at  the  age  of  puberty,  when 
its  growth  is  successfully  arrested ;  and  occasionally  one  may  be 
seen,  who  has  omitted  to  destroy  it  at  that  time,  and  subjects  his 


257 


chin  to  the  repeated  pains  of  its  extractions,  which  he  is  performing 
with  a  pair  of  clamshells  or  other  tweezers,  nearly  every  day  of  his 
life — and  occasionally  again,  but  still  more  rarely,  one  is  found,  who 
from  carelessness  or  inclination  has  omitted  both  of  these,  and  is 
allowing  it  to  grow  to  the  length  of  an  inch  or  two  on  his  chin,  in 
which  case  it  is  generally  very  soft,  and  exceedingly  sparse.  Where- 
ever  there  is  a  cross  of  the  blood  with  the  European  or  African,  which 
is  frequently  the  case  along  the  Frontier,  a  proportionate  beard  is  the 
result ;  and  it  is  allowed  to  grow,  or  is  plucked  out  with  much  toil, 
and  with  great  pain. 

There  has  been  much  speculation,  and  great  variety  of  opinions, 
as  to  the  results  of  the  intercourse  between  the  European  and 
African  population  with  the  Indians  on  the  borders ;  and  I  would 
not  undertake  to  decide  so  difficult  a  question,  though  I  cannot  help 
but  express  my  opinion,  which  is  made  up  from  the  vast  many 
instances  that  I  have  seen,  that  generally  speaking,  these  half-breed 
specimens  are  in  both  instances  a  decided  deterioration  from  the 
two  stocks,  from  which  they  have  sprung ;  which  I  grant  may  be 
the  consequence  that  generally  flows  from  illicit  intercourse,  and 
from  the  inferior  rank  in  which  they  are  held  by  both  (which  is 
mostly  confined  to  the  lowest  and  most  degraded  portions  of  society), 
rather  than  from  any  constitutional  objection,  necessarily  growing 
out  of  the  amalgamation. 

The  finest  built  and  most  powerful  men  that  I  have  ever  yet 
seen,  have  been  some  of  the  last-mentioned,  the  Negro  and  the  North 
American  Indian  mixed,  of  equal  blood.  These  instances  are  rare  to 
be  sure,  yet  are  occasionally  to  be  found  amongst  the  Seminolees  and 
Cherokees,  and  also  amongst  the  Camanchees  even,  and  the  Chaddoes ; 
and  I  account  for  it  in  this  way :  From  the  slave-holding  States  to 
the  heart  of  the  country  of  a  wild  tribe  of  Indians,  through  almost 
boundless  and  impassable  wilds  and  swamps,  for  hundreds  of  miles, 
it  requires  a  negro  of  extraordinary  leg  and  courage  and  perseverance, 
to  travel ;  absconding  from  his  master’s  fields,  to  throw  himself  into 
a  tribe  of  wild  and  hostile  Indians,  for  the  enjoyment  of  his  liberty ; 
of  which  there  are  occasional  instances,  and  when  they  succeed,  they  are 
admired  by  the  savage ;  and  as  they  come  with  a  good  share  of  the 
tricks  and  arts  of  civilisation,  they  are  at  once  looked  upon  by  the 
tribe,  as  extraordinary  and  important  personages;  and  generally 
marry  the  daughters  of  chiefs,  thus  uniting  theirs  with  the  best  blood 
in  the  nation,  which  produce  these  remarkably  fine  and  powerful 
men  that  I  have  spoken  of  above. 

Although  the  Indians  of  North  America,  where  dissipation  and 
VOL.  II.  r 


258 


disease  have  not  got  amongst  them,  undoubtedly  are  a  longer  lived 
and  healthier  race,  and  capable  of  enduring  far  more  bodily  privation 
and  pain,  than  civilised  people  can ;  yet  I  do  not  believe  that  the 
differences  are  constitutional,  or  anything  more  than  the  results  of 
different  circumstances,  and  a  different  education.  As  an  evidence 
in  support  of  this  assertion,  I  will  allude  to  the  hundreds  of  men 
whom  I  have  seen,  and  travelled  with,  who  have  been  for  several 
years  together  in  the  Kocky  Mountains,  in  the  employment  of  the 
Fur  Companies;  where  they  have  lived  exactly  upon  the  Indian 
system,  continually  exposed  to  the  open  air,  and  the  weather,  and 
to  all  the  disappointments  and  privations  peculiar  to  that  mode  of 
life ;  and  I  am  bound  to  say,  that  I  never  saw  a  more  hardy  and 
healthy  race  of  men  in  my  life,  whilst  they  remain  in  the  country ; 
nor  any  who  fall  to  pieces  quicker  when  they  get  back  to  confined  and 
dissipated  life,  which  they  easily  fall  into,  when  they  return  to  their 
own  country. 

The  Indian  women  who  are  obliged  to  lead  lives  of  severe  toil 
and  drudgery,  become  exceedingly  healthy  and  robust,  giving  easy 
birth  and  strong  constitutions  to  their  children ;  which,  in  a 
measure,  may  account  for  the  simplicity  and  fewness  of  their 
diseases,  which  in  infancy  and  childhood  are  very  seldom  known  to 
destroy  life. 

If  there  were  anything  like  an  equal  proportion  of  deaths  amongst 
the  Indian  children,  that  is  found  in  the  civilised  portions  of  the 
world,  the  Indian  country  would  long  since  have  been  depopulated, 
on  account  of  the  decided  disproportion  of  children  they  produce. 
It  is  a  very  rare  occurrence  for  an  Indian  woman  to  be  “  blessed ” 
with  more  than  four  or  five  children  during  her  life ;  and  generally 
speaking,  they  seem  contented  with  two  or  three ;  when  in  civilised 
communities  it  is  no  uncommon  thing  for  a  woman  to  be  the  mother 
of  ten  or  twelve,  and  sometimes  to  bear  two  or  even  three  at  a  time ; 
of  which  I  never  recollect  to  have  met  an  instance  during  all  my 
extensive  travels  in  the  Indian  country,  though  it  is  possible  that  I 
might  occasionally  have  passed  them. 

For  so  striking  a  dissimilarity  as  there  evidently  is  between  these 
people,  and  those  living  according  to  the  more  artificial  modes  of  life, 
in  a  subject,  seemingly  alike  natural  to  both,  the  reader  will  perhaps 
expect  me  to  furnish  some  rational  and  decisive  causes.  Several 
very  plausible  reasons  have  been  advanced  for  such  a  deficiency  on 
the  part  of  the  Indians,  by  authors  who  have  written  on  the  subject, 
but  whose  opinions  I  should  be  very  slow  to  adopt;  inasmuch  as 
they  have  been  based  upon  the  Indian’s  inferiority  (as  the  same 


259 


authors  have  taken  great  pains  to  prove  in  most  other  respects),  to 
their  pale-faced  neighbours. 

I  know  of  but  one  decided  cause  for  this  difference,  which  I 
would  venture  to  advance,  and  which  I  confidently  believe  to  be  the 
principal  obstacle  to  a  more  rapid  increase  of  their  families ;  which 
is  the  very  great  length  of  time  that  the  women  submit  to  lactation, 
generally  carrying  their  children  at  the  breast  to  the  age  of  two,  and 
sometimes  three,  and  even  four  years ! 

The  astonishing  ease  and  success  with  which  the  Indian  women 
pass  through  the  most  painful  and  most  trying  of  all  human  difficul¬ 
ties,  which  fall  exclusively  to  the  lot  of  the  gentler  sex ;  is  quite  equal, 
I  have  found  from  continued  inquiry,  to  the  representations  that 
have  often  been  made  to  the  world  by  other  travellers,  who  have 
gone  before  mo.  Many  people  have  thought  this  a  wise  provision  of 
Nature,  in  framing  the  constitutions  of  these  people,  to  suit  the 
exigencies  of  their  exposed  lives,  where  they  are  beyond  the  pale  of 
skilful  surgeons,  and  the  nice  little  comforts  that  visit  the  sick  beds 
in  the  enlightened  world ;  but  I  never  have  been  willing  to  give  to 
Nature  quite  so  much  credit,  for  stepping  aside  of  her  own  rule, 
which  I  believe  to  be  about  half  way  between — from  which  I  am 
inclined  to  think  that  the  refinements  of  art,  and  its  spices,  have 
led  the  civilised  world  into  the  pains  and  perils  of  one  unnatural 
extreme ;  whilst  the  extraordinary  fatigue  and  exposure,  and  habits 
of  Indian  life,  have  greatly  released  them  from  natural  pains,  on  the 
other.  With  this  view  of  the  case,  I  fully  believe  that  Nature  has 
dealt  everywhere  impartially;  and  that,  if  from  their  childhood,  our 
mothers  had,  like  the  Indian  women,  carried  loads  like  beasts  of 
burthen — and  those  over  the  longest  journeys,  and  highest  mountains 
— had  swam  the  broadest  rivers — and  galloped  about  for  months  and 
even  years  of  their  lives,  astride  of  their  horse’s  backs ;  we  should 
have  taxed  them  as  lightly  in  stepping  into  the  world,  as  an  Indian 
pappoose  does  its  mother,  who  ties  her  horse  under  the  shade  of  a 
tree  for  half  an  hour,  and  before  night,  overtakes  her  travelling  com¬ 
panions  with  her  infant  in  her  arms,  which  has  often  been  the  case. 

As  to  the  probable  origin  of  the  North  American  Indians,  which 
is  one  of  the  first  questions  that  suggests  itself  to  the  inquiring 
mind,  and  will  be  perhaps,  the  last  to  be  settled ;  I  shall  have  little 
to  say  in  this  place,  for  the  reason  that  so  abstruse  a  subject,  and  one 
so  barren  of  positive  proof,  would  require  in  its  discussion  too  much 
circumstantial  evidence  for  my  allowed  limits ;  which  I  am  sure  the 
world  will  agree  will  be  filled  up  much  more  consistently  with  the 
avowed  spirit  of  this  work,  by  treating  of  that  which  admits  of  an 


260 


abundance  of  proof — their  actual  existence,  their  customs — and  mis¬ 
fortunes  ;  and  the  suggestions  of  modes  for  the  amelioration  of  their 
condition. 

For  a  professed  philanthropist,  I  should  deem  it  cruel  and  hypo¬ 
critical  to  waste  time  and  space  in  the  discussion  of  a  subject,  ever 
so  interesting  (though  unimportant),  when  the  present  condition  and 
prospects  of  these  people  are  calling  so  loudly  upon  the  world  for 
justice,  and  for  mercy;  and  when  their  evanescent  existence  and 
customs  are  turning,  as  it  were,  on  a  wheel  before  us,  but  soon  to  be 
lost ;  whilst  the  mystery  of  their  origin  can  as  well  be  fathomed  at 
a  future  day  as  now,  and  recorded  with  their  exit. 

Yery  many  people  look  upon  the  savages  of  this  vast  country,  as 
an  “  Anomaly  in  Nature and  their  existence  and  origin,  and 
locality,  things  that  needs  must  be  at  once  accounted  for. 

Now,  if  the  world  will  allow  me  (and  perhaps  they  may  think 
me  singular  for  saying  it),  I  would  say,  that  these  things  are,  in  my 
opinion,  natural  and  simple;  and,  like  all  other  works  of  Nature, 
destined  to  remain  a  mystery  to  mortal  man ;  and  if  man  be  any¬ 
where  entitled  to  the  name  of  an  anomaly,  it  is  he  who  has  departed 
the  farthest  from  the  simple  walks  and  actions  of  his  nature. 

It  seems  natural  to  inquire  at  once  who  these  people  are,  and 
from  whence  they  came ;  but  this  question  is  natural,  only  because 
we  are  out  of  nature.  To  an  Indian,  such  a  question  would  seem 
absurd — he  would  stand  aghast  and  astounded  at  the  anomaly  before 
him — himself  upon  his  own  ground,  “  where  the  Great  Spirit  made 
him  ” — hunting  in  his  own  forests ;  if  an  exotic,  with  a  “  pale  face,” 
and  from  across  the  ocean,  should  stand  before  him,  to  ask  him  where 
he  came  from,  and  how  he  got  there ! 

I  would  invite  this  querist,  this  votary  of  science,  to  sit  upon  a 
log  with  his  red  acquaintance,  and  answer  the  following  questions : — 

“  You  white  man,  where  you  come  from  ?  ” 

“  From  England,  across  the  water.” 

“  How  white  man  come  to  see  England  ?  how  you  face  come  to 
get  white,  ha  ?  ” 

I  never  yet  have  been  made  to  see  the  necessity  of  showing  how 
these  people  came  here,  or  that  they  came  here  at  all ;  which  might 
easily  have  been  done,  by  the  way  of  Behring’s  Straits  from  the 
north  of  Asia.  I  should  much  rather  dispense  with  such  a  necessity, 
than  undertake  the  other  necessities  that  must  follow  the  establish¬ 
ment  of  this;  those  of  showing  how  the  savages  paddled  or  drifted 
in  their  canoes  from  this  Continent,  after  they  had  got  here,  or  from 
the  Asiatic  coast,  and  landed  on  all  the  South  Sea  Islands,  which  we 


261 


find  to  be  inhabited  nearly  to  the  South  Pole.  For  myself,  I  am 
quite  satisfied  with  the  fact,  which  is  a  thing  certain,  and  to  be 
relied  on,  that  this  Continent  was  found  peopled  in  every  part,  by 
savages ;  and  so,  nearly  every  island  in  the  South  Seas,  at  the 
distance  of  several  thousand  miles  from  either  Continent ;  and  I  am 
quite  willing  to  surrender  the  mystery  to  abler  pens  than  my  own — 
to  theorists  who  may  have  the  time,  and  the  means  to  prove  to  the 
world,  how  those  rude  people  wandered  there  in  their  bark  canoes, 
without  water  for  their  subsistence,  or  compasses  to  guide  them  on 
their  way. 

The  North  American  Indians,  and  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  South 
Sea  Islands,  speaking  some  two  or  three  hundred  different  languages, 
entirely  dissimilar,  may  have  all  sprung  from  one  stock ;  and  the 
Almighty,  after  creating  man,  for  some  reason  that  is  unfathomable 
to  human  wisdom,  might  have  left  the  whole  vast  universe,  with  its 
severed  continents,  and  its  thousand  distant  isles  everywhere  teeming 
with  necessaries  and  luxuries,  spread  out  for  man’s  use ;  and  there  to 
vegetate  and  rot,  for  hundreds  and  even  thousands  of  centuries,  until 
ultimate,  abstract  accident  should  throw  him  amongst  these  infinite 
mysteries  of  creation ;  the  least  and  most  insignificant  of  which  have 
been  created  and  placed  by  design.  Human  reason  is  weak,  and 
human  ignorance  is  palpable,  when  man  attempts  to  approach  these 
unsearchable  mysteries  ;  and  I  consider  human  discretion  well  applied, 
when  it  beckons  him  back  to  things  that  he  can  comprehend ;  where 
his  reason,  and  all  his  mental  energies  can  be  employed  for  the 
advancement  and  benefit  of  his  species.  With  this  conviction,  I  feel 
disposed  to  retreat  to  the  ground  that  I  have  before  occupied — to  the 
Indians,  as  they  are,  and  where  they  are ;  recording  amongst  them 
living  evidences  whilst  they  live,  for  the  use  of  abler  theorists  than 
myself — who  may  labour  to  establish  their  origin,  which  may  be  as 
well  (and  perhaps  better)  done,  a  century  hence,  than  at  the  present 
day. 

The  reader  is  apprised,  that  I  have  nearly  filled  the  limits  allotted 
to  these  epistles ;  and  I  assure  him  that  a  vast  deal  which  I  have 
seen  must  remain  untold — whilst  from  the  same  necessity,  I  must 
tell  him  much  less  than  I  think,  and  beg  to  be  pardoned  if  I  with¬ 
hold,  till  some  future  occasion,  many  of  my  reasons  for  thinking. 

I  believe,  with  many  others,  that  the  North  American  Indians 
are  a  mixed  people — that  they  have  Jewish  blood  in  their  veins, 
though  I  would  not  assert,  as  some  have  undertaken  to  prove,  “  that 
they  are  Jews','  or  that  they  are  “ the  ten  lost  tribes  of  Israel From 
the  character  and  conformation  of  their  heads,  I  am  compelled  to 


262 


look  upon  them  as  an  amalgam  race,  but  still  savages;  and  from 
many  of  their  customs,  which  seem  to  me  to  be  peculiarly  Jewish, 
as  well  as  from  the  character  of  their  heads,  I  am  forced  to  believe 
that  some  part  of  those  ancient  tribes,  who  have  been  dispersed  by 
Christians  in  so  many  ways,  and  in  so  many  different  eras,  have 
found  their  way  to  this  country,  where  they  have  entered  amongst 
the  native  stock,  and  have  lived  and  intermarried  with  the  Indians 
until  their  identity  has  been  swallowed  up  and  lost  in  the  greater 
numbers  of  their  new  acquaintance,  save  the  bold  and  decided 
character  which  they  have  bequeathed  to  the  Indian  races ;  and  such 
of  their  customs  as  the  Indians  were  pleased  to  adopt,  and  which 
they  have  preserved  to  the  present  day. 

I  am  induced  to  believe  thus  from  the  very  many  customs  which 
I  have  witnessed  amongst  them,  that  appear  to  be  decidedly  Jewish; 
and  many  of  them  so  peculiarly  so,  that  it  would  seem  almost  im¬ 
possible,  or  at  all  events,  exceedingly  improbable,  that  two  people  in 
a  state  of  nature  should  have  hit  upon  them,  and  practised  them 
exactly  alike. 

The  world  need  not  expect  me  to  decide  so  interesting  and  difficult 
a  question ;  but  I  am  sure  they  will  be  disposed  to  hear  simply  my 
opinion,  which  I  give  in  this  place,  quite  briefly,  and  with  the  utmost 
respectful  deference  to  those  who  think  differently.  I  claim  no  merit 
whatever,  for  advancing  such  an  opinion,  which  is  not  new,  having 
been  in  several  works  advanced  to  the  world  by  far  abler  pens  than 
my  own,  with  volumes  of  evidence,  to  the  catalogue  of  which,  I  feel 
quite  sure  I  shall  be  able  to  add  some  new  proofs  in  the  proper  place. 
If  I  could  establish  the  fact  by  positive  proof,  I  should  claim  a  great 
deal  of  applause  from  the  world,  and  should,  no  doubt,  obtain  it ;  but, 
like  everything  relating  to  the  origin  and  early  history  of  these  un¬ 
chronicled  people,  I  believe  this  question  is  one  that  will  never  be 
settled,  but  will  remain  open  for  the  opinions  of  the  world,  which 
will  be  variously  given,  and  that  upon  circumstantial  evidence  alone. 

I  am  compelled  to  believe  that  the  Continent  of  America,  and 
each  of  the  other  Continents,  have  had  their  aboriginal  stocks, 
peculiar  in  colour  and  in  character — and  that  each  of  these  native 
stocks  has  undergone  repeated  mutations  (at  periods,  of  which  history 
has  kept  no  records),  by  erratic  colonies  from  abroad  that  have  been 
engrafted  upon  them — mingling  with  them,  and  materially  affecting 
their  original  character.  By  this  process,  I  believe  that  the  North 
American  Indians,  even  where  we  find  them  in  their  wildest  condition, 
are  several  degrees  removed  from  their  original  character ;  and  that 
one  of  their  principal  alloys  has  been  a  part  of  those  dispersed  people. 


263 


who  have  mingled  their  blood  and  their  customs  with  them,  and  even 
in  their  new  disguise,  seemed  destined  to  be  followed  up  with  oppres¬ 
sion  and  endless  persecution. 

The  first  and  most  striking  fact  amongst  the  North  American 
Indians  that  refers  us  to  the  Jews,  is  that  of  their  worshipping  in  all 
parts,  the  Great  Spirit,  or  Jehovah,  as  the  Hebrews  were  ordered  to 
do  by  Divine  precept,  instead  of  a  plurality  of  gods,  as  ancient  pagans 
and  heathens  did — and  their  idols  of  their  own  formation.  The  North 
American  Indians  are  nowhere  idolators — they  appeal  at  once  to  the 
Great  Spirit,  and  know  of  no  mediator,  either  personal  or  symboli¬ 
cal. 

The  Indian  tribes  are  everywhere  divided  into  bands,  with  chiefs, 
symbols,  badges,  etc.,  and  many  of  their  modes  of  worship  I  have 
found  exceedingly  like  those  of  the  Mosaic  institution.  The  Jews 
had  their  sanctum  sanctorums,  and  so  may  it  be  said  the  Indians  have, 
in  their  council  or  medicine-houses,  which  are  always  held  as  sacred 
places.  As  the  Jews  had,  they  have  their  high -priests  and  their 
prophets.  Amongst  the  Indians  as  amongst  the  ancient  Hebrews,  the 
women  are  not  allowed  to  worship  with  the  men — and  in  all  cases 
also,  they  eat  separately.  The  Indians  everywhere,  like  the  Jews, 
believe  that  they  are  the  favourite  people  of  the  Great  Spirit,  and 
they  are  certainly,  like  those  ancient  people,  persecuted,  as  every  man’s 
hand  seems  raised  against  them — and  they,  like  the  Jews,  destined  to 
he  dispersed  over  the  world,  and  seemingly  scourged  by  the  Almighty, 
and  despised  of  man. 

In  their  marriages,  the  Indians,  as  did  the  ancient  Jews,  uniformly 
huy  their  wives  by  giving  presents — and  in  many  tribes  very  closely 
resemble  them  in  other  forms  and  ceremonies  of  their  marriages. 

In  their  preparations  for  war,  and  in  peacemaking,  they  are 
strikingly  similar.  In  their  treatment  of  the  sick,  burial  of  the  dead 
and  mourning,  they  are  also  similar. 

In  their  bathing  and  ablutions,  at  all  seasons  of  the  year,  as  a 
part  of  their  religious  observances — having  separate  places  for  men 
and  women  to  perform  these  immersions — they  resemble  again.  And 
the  custom  amongst  the  women,  of  absenting  themselves  during  the 
lunar  influences,  is  exactly  consonant  to  the  Mosaic  law.  This  custom 
of  separation  is  an  uniform  one  amongst  the  different  tribes,  as  far  as 
I  have  seen  them  in  their  primitive  state,  and  be  it  Jewish,  natural 
or  conventional,  it  is  an  indispensable  form  with  these  wild  people, 
who  are  setting  to  the  civilised  world,  this  and  many  other  examples 
of  decency  and  propriety,  only  to  be  laughed  at  by  their  wiser 
neighbours,  who,  rather  than  award  to  the  red  man  any  merit  for 


264 


them,  have  taken  exceeding  pains  to  call  them  but  the  results  of 
ignorance  and  superstition. 

So,  in  nearly  every  family  of  a  tribe,  will  be  found  a  small  lodge, 
large  enough  to  contain  one  person,  which  is  erected  at  a  little  distance 
from  the  family  lodge,  and  occupied  by  the  wife  or  the  daughter,  to 
whose  possession  circumstances  allot  it ;  where  she  dwells  alone  until 
she  is  prepared  to  move  back,  and  in  the  meantime  the  touch  of  her 
hand  or  her  finger  to  the  chief's  lodge,  or  his  gun,  or  other  article  of 
his  household,  consigns  it  to  destruction  at  once ;  and  in  case  of  non¬ 
conformity  to  this  indispensable  form,  a  woman’s  life  may,  in  some 
tribes,  be  answerable  for  misfortunes  that  happen  to  individuals  or 
the  tribe,  in  the  interim. 

After  this  season  of  separation,  purification  in  running  water,  and 
anointing,  precisely  in  accordance  with  the  Jewish  command,  is 
requisite  before  she  can  enter  the  family  lodge.  Such  is  one  of  the 
extraordinary  observances  amongst  these  people  in  their  wild  state  • 
but  along  the  Frontier,  where  white  people  have  laughed  at  them  for 
their  forms,  they  have  departed  from  this,  as  from  nearly  everything 
else  that  is  native  and  original  about  them. 

In  their  feasts,  fastings  and  sacrificing,  they  are  exceedingly  like 
those  ancient  people.  Many  of  them  have  a  feast  closely  resembling 
the  annual  feast  of  the  Jewish  passover ;  and  amongst  others,  an 
occasion  much  like  the  Israelitish  feast  of  the  tabernacles,  which 
lasted  eight  days  (when  history  tells  us  they  carried  bundles  of  willow 
boughs,  and  fasted  several  days  and  nights),  making  sacrifices  of  the 
first  fruits  and  best  of  everything,  closely  resembling  the  sin-offering 
and  peace-offering  of  the  Hebrews.* 

These,  and  many  others  of  their  customs  would  seem  to  be 
decidedly  Jewish ;  yet  it  is  for  the  world  to  decide  how  many  of  them, 
or  whether  all  of  them,  might  be  natural  to  all  people,  and,  therefore, 
as  well  practised  by  these  people  in  a  state  of  nature,  as  to  have  been 
borrowed  from  a  foreign  nation. 

Amongst  the  lists  of  their  customs  however,  we  meet  a  number 
which  had  their  origin  it  would  seem,  in  the  Jewish  Ceremonial  code, 
and  which  are  so  very  peculiar  in  their  forms,  that  it  would  seem  quite 
improbable,  and  almost  impossible,  that  two  different  people  should 
ever  have  hit  upon  them  alike,  without  some  knowledge  of  each  other. 
These  I  consider,  go  farther  than  anything  else  as  evidence,  and  carry 

*  See  the  four  days’  religious  ceremonies  of  the  Mandans,  and  use  of  the  willow 
boughs,  and  sacrifices  of  fingers,  etc.,  in  Vol.  I.,  pp.  179, 192  :  and  also  the  custom 
of  war-chiefs  wearing  horns  on  their  head-dresses,  like  the  Israelitish  chiefs  of  great 
renown,  VoL  I.,  p.  117. 


265 


in  my  mind,  conclusive  proof  that  these  people  are  tinctured  with 
Jewish  blood;  even  though  the  Jewish  Sabbath  has  been  lost,  and 
circumcision  probably  rejected  ;  and  dog’s  flesh,  which  was  an  abomi¬ 
nation  to  the  Jews,  continued  to  be  eaten  at  their  feasts  by  all  the 
tribes  of  Indians;  not  because  the  Jews  have  been  prevailed  upon  to 
use  it,  but,  because  they  have  survived  only,  as  their  blood  was  mixed 
with  that  of  the  Indians,  and  the  Indians  have  imposed  on  that  mixed 
blood  the  same  rules  and  regulations  that  governed  the  members  of 
the  tribes  in  general. 

Many  writers  are  of  opinion,  that  the  natives  of  America  are  all 
from  one  stock,  and  their  languages  from  one  root — that  that  stock 
is  exotic,  and  that  that  language  was  introduced  with  it.  And  the 
reason  assigned  for  this  theory  is,  that  amongst  the  various  tribes, 
there  is  a  reigning  similarity  in  looks — and  in  their  languages  a 
striking  resemblance  to  each  other. 

Now,  if  all  the  world  were  to  argue  in  this  way,  I  should  reason 
just  in  the  other;  and  pronounce  this,  though  evidence  to  a  certain 
degree,  to  be  very  far  from  conclusive,  inasmuch  as  it  is  far  easier 
and  more  natural  for  distinct  tribes,  or  languages,  grouped  and  used 
together,  to  assimilate  than  to  dissimilate ;  as  the  pebbles  on  a  sea¬ 
shore,  that  are  washed  about  and  jostled  together,  lose  their  angles, 
and  incline  at  last  to  one  rounded  and  uniform  shape.  So  that  if 
there  had  been  al  origine,  a  variety  of  different  stocks  in  America, 
with  different  complexions,  with  different  characters  and  customs,  and 
of  different  statures,  and  speaking  entirely  different  tongues  ;  where 
they  have  been  for  a  series  of  centuries  living  neighbours  to  each 
other,  moving  about  and  intermarrying ;  I  think  we  might  reasonably 
look  for  quite  as  great  a  similarity  in  their  personal  appearance  and 
languages,  as  we  now  find ;  when,  on  the  other  hand,  if  we  are  to 
suppose  that  they  were  all  from  one  foreign  stock,  with  but  one 
language,  it  is  a  difficult  thing  to  conceive  how  or  in  what  space  of 
time,  or  for  what  purpose,  they  could  have  formed  so  many  tongues, 
and  so  widely  different,  as  those  that  are  now  spoken  on  the  Continent. 

It  is  evident  I  think,  that  if  an  island  or  continent  had  been 
peopled  with  black,  white  and  red ;  a  succession  of  revolving  centuries 
of  intercourse  amongst  these  different  colours  would  have  had  a 
tendency  to  bring  them  to  one  standard  complexion,  when  no  com¬ 
putable  space  of  time,  nor  any  conceivable  circumstances  could  restore 
them  again ;  reproducing  all,  or  either  of  the  distinct  colours,  from 
the  compound. 

That  customs  should  be  found  similar,  or  many  of  them  exactly 
the  same,  on  the  most  opposite  parts  of  the  Continent,  is  still  less 

R* 


266 


surprising;  for  these  will  travel  more  rapidly,  being  more  easily 
taught  at  Treaties  and  festivals  between  hostile  bands,  or  dissem¬ 
inated  by  individuals  travelling  through  neighbouring  tribes,  whilst 
languages  and  blood  require  more  time  for  their  admixture. 

That  the  languages  of  the  North  American  Indians,  should  he 
found  to  he  so  numerous  at  this  day,  and  so  very  many  of  them 
radically  different,  is  a  subject  of  great  surprise,  and  unaccountable, 
whether  these  people  are  derived  from  one  individual  stock,  or  from 
one  hundred,  or  one  thousand. 

Though  languages  like  colour  and  like  customs,  are  calculated  to 
assimilate,  under  the  circumstances  above  named ;  yet  it  is  evident 
that  (if  derived  from  a  variety  of  sources),  they  have  been  unaccount¬ 
ably  kept  more  distinct  than  the  others ;  and  if  from  one  root,  have 
still  more  unaccountably  dissimilated  and  divided  into  at  least  one 
hundred  and  fifty,  two-thirds  of  which,  I  venture  to  say,  are  entirely 
and  radically  distinct;  whilst  amongst  the  people  who  speak  them, 
there  is  a  reigning  similarity  in  looks,  in  features  and  in  customs, 
which  would  go  very  far  to  pronounce  them  one  family,  by  nature  or 
by  convention. 

I  do  not  believe,  with  some  very  learned  and  distinguished  writers, 
that  the  languages  of  the  North  American  Indians  can  be  traced  to 
one  root  or  to  three  or  four,  or  any  number  of  distinct  idioms ;  nor 
do  I  believe  all,  or  any  one  of  them,  will  ever  be  fairly  traced  to  a 
foreign  origin. 

If  the  looks  and  customs  of  the  Jews,  are  decidedly  found  and 
identified  with  these  people — and  also  those  of  the  Japanese,  and 
Calmuc  Tartars,  I  think  we  have  but  little,  if  any  need  of  looking 
for  the  Hebrew  language,  or  either  of  the  others,  for  the  reasons  that 
I  have  already  given ;  for  the  feeble  colonies  of  these,  or  any  other 
foreign  people  that  might  have  fallen  by  accident  upon  the  shores  of 
this  great  Continent,  or  who  might  have  approached  it  by  Behring’s 
Straits,  have  been  too  feeble  to  give  a  language  to  fifteen  or  twenty 
millions  of  people,  or  in  fact  to  any  portion  of  them ;  being  in  all 
probability,  in  great  part  cut  to  pieces  and  destroyed  by  a  natural 
foe  ;  leaving  enough  perhaps,  who  had  intermarried,  to  innoculate 
their  blood  and  their  customs ;  which  have  run,  like  a  drop  in  a 
bucket,  and  slightly  tinctured  the  character  of  tribes  who  have 
sternly  resisted  their  languages,  which  would  naturally,  under  such 
circumstances,  have  made  but  very  little  impression. 

Such  I  consider  the  condition  of  the  Jews  in  North  America; 
and  perhaps  the  Scandinavians,  and  the  followers  of  Madoc,  who  by 
some  means,  and  some  period  that  I  cannot  name,  have  thrown  them- 


267 


selves  upon  the  shores  of  this  country,  and  amongst  the  ranks  of  the 
savages;  where,  from  destructive  wars  with  their  new  neighbours, 
they  have  been  overpowered,  and  perhaps,  with  the  exception  of 
those  who  had  intermarried,  they  have  been  destroyed,  yet  leaving 
amongst  the  savages  decided  marks  of  their  character;  and  many 
of  their  peculiar  customs,  which  had  pleased,  and  been  adopted  by 
the  savages,  while  they  had  sternly  resisted  others ;  and  decidedly 
shut  out  and  discarded  their  language,  and  of  course  obliterated 
everything  of  their  history. 

That  there  should  often  be  found  contiguous  to  each  other,  several 
tribes  speaking  dialects  of  the  same  language,  is  a  matter  of  no 
surprise  at  all ;  and  wherever  such  is  the  case,  there  is  resemblance 
enough  also,  in  looks  and  customs,  to  show  that  they  are  parts  of  the 
same  tribes,  which  have  comparatively  recently  severed  and  wandered 
apart,  as  their  traditions  will  generally  show ;  and  such  resemblances 
are  often  found  and  traced,  nearly  across  the  Continent,  and  have 
been  accounted  for  in  some  of  my  former  Letters.  Several  very 
learned  gentlemen,  whose  opinions  I  would  treat  with  the  greatest 
respect,  have  supposed  that  all  the  native  languages  of  America  were 
traceable  to  three  or  four  roots ;  a  position  which  I  will  venture  to 
say  will  be  an  exceedingly  difficult  one  for  them  to  maintain,  whilst 
remaining  at  home  and  consulting  books,  in  the  way  that  too  many 
theories  are  supported ;  and  one  infinitely  more  difficult  to  prove  if 
they  travel  amongst  the  different  tribes,  and  collect  their  own  infor¬ 
mation  as  they  travel.*  I  am  quite  certain  that  I  have  found  in  a 
number  of  instances,  tribes  who  have  long  lived  neighbours  to  each 
other,  and  who,  from  continued  intercourse,  had  learned  mutually, 
many  words  of  each  others  language,  and  adopted  them  for  common 
use  or  mottoes,  as  often,  or  oftener  than  we  introduce  the  French  or 
Latin  phrases  in  our  conversation ;  from  which  the  casual  visitor  to 
*  For  the  satisfaction  of  the  reader,  I  have  introduced  in  the  Appendix  to  this 
Volume,  Letter  B,  a  brief  vocabulary  of  the  languages  of  several  adjoining  tribes 
in  the  North-West,  from  which,  by  turning  to  it,  they  can  easily  draw  their  own 
inferences.  These  words  have  all  been  written  down  by  myself,  from  the  Indians’ 
mouths,  as  they  have  been  correctly  translated  to  me  ;  and  I  think  it  will  at  once 
be  decided,  that  there  is  very  little  affinity  or  resemblance,  if  any,  between  them. 
I  have  therein  given  a  sample  of  the  Blackfoot  language,  yet,  of  that  immense  tribe 
who  all  class  under  the  name  of  Blackfoot,  there  are  the  Cotonnes  and  the 
Grosventres  des  Prairies — whose  languages  are  entirely  distinct  from  this — and 
also  from  each  other — and  in  the  same  region,  and  neighbours  to  them,  are  also  the 
Chayennes — the  Knisteneaux,  the  Crows,  the  Shoshonees,  and  Pawnees ;  all  of 
whose  languages  are  as  distinct,  and  as  widely  different,  as  those  that  I  have  given. 
These  facts,  I  think,  without  my  going  further,  will  fully  show  the  entire  dissimi¬ 
larity  between  these  languages,  and  support  me  to  a  certain  extent,  at  all  events, 
in  the  opinion  I  have  advanced  above. 


268 


one  of  these  tribes,  might  naturally  suppose  there  was  a  similarity 
in  their  languages;  when  a  closer  examiner  would  find  that  the 
idioms  and  structure  of  the  several  languages  were  entirely  distinct. 

I  believe  that  in  this  way,  the  world  who  take  but  a  superficial 
glance  at  them,  are,  and  will  be,  led  into  continual  error  on  this 
interesting  subject;  one  that  invites,  and  well  deserves  from  those 
learned  gentlemen,  a  fair  investigation  by  them,  on  the  spot ;  rather 
than  so  limited  and  feeble  an  examination  as  I  have  been  able  to 
make  of  it,  or  that  they  can  make,  in  their  parlours,  at  so  great  a 
distance  from  them,  and  through  such  channels  as  they  are  obliged 
to  look  to  for  their  information. 

Amongst  the  tribes  that  I  have  visited,  I  consider  that  thirty, 
out  of  the  forty-eight,  are  distinct  and  radically  different  in  their 
languages,  and  eighteen  are  dialects  of  some  three  or  four.  It  is 
a  very  simple  thing  for  the  off-hand  theorists  of  the  scientific 
world,  who  do  not  go  near  these  people,  to  arrange  and  classify 
them ;  and  a  very  clever  thing  to  simplify  the  subject,  and  bring  it, 
like  everything  else,  under  three  or  four  heads,  and  to  solve,  and 
resolve  it,  by  as  many  simple  rules. 

I  do  not  pretend  to  be  able  to  give  to  this  subject,  or  to  that  of 
the  probable  origin  of  these  people,  the  close  investigation  that  these 
interesting  subjects  require  and  deserve ;  yet  I  have  travelled  and 
observed  enough  amongst  them,  and  collected  enough,  to  enable  me 
to  form  decided  opinions  of  my  own ;  and  in  my  conviction,  have 
acquired  confidence  enough  to  tell  them,  and  at  the  same  time  to 
recommend  to  the  Government  or  institutions  of  my  own  country, 
to  employ  men  of  science,  such  as  I  have  mentioned,  and  protect 
them  in  their  visits  to  these  tribes,  where  “the  truth,  and  the 
whole  truth,”  may  be  got;  and  the  languages  of  all  the  tribes 
that  are  yet  in  existence  (many  of  which  are  just  now  gasping  them 
out  in  their  last  breath),  may  be  snatched  and  preserved  from 
oblivion ;  as  well  as  their  looks  and  their  customs,  to  the  preservation 
of  which  my  labours  have  been  principally  devoted. 

I  undertake  to  say  to  such  gentlemen,  who  are  enthusiastic  and 
qualified,  that  here  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  subjects  that  they 
could  spend  the  energies  of  their  valuable  lives  upon,  and  one  the 
most  sure  to  secure  for  them  that  immortality  for  which  it  is  natural 
and  fair  for  all  men  to  look. 

From  what  has  been  said  in  the  foregoing  Letters,  it  will  have 
been  seen  there  are  three  divisions  under  which  the  North  American 
Indians  may  be  justly  considered;  those  who  are  dead — those  who 
are  dying,  and  those  who  are  yet  living  and  flourishing  in  their 


269 


primitive  condition.  Of  the  dead,  I  have  little  to  say  at  present, 
and  I  can  render  them  no  service — of  the  living,  there  is  much  to  be 
said,  and  I  shall  regret  that  the  prescribed  limits  of  these  epistles, 
will  forbid  me  saying  all  that  I  desire  to  say  of  them  and  their 
condition. 

The  present  condition  of  these  once  numerous  people,  contrasted 
with  what  it  was,  and  what  it  is  soon  to  be,  is  a  subject  of  curious 
interest,  as  well  as  some  importance,  to  the  civilised  world — a  subject 
well  entitled  to  the  attention,  and  very  justly  commanding  the 
sympathies  of  enlightened  communities.  There  are  abundant  proofs 
recorded  in  the  history  of  this  country,  and  to  which  I  need  not  at 
this  time  more  particularly  refer,  to  show  that  this  very  numerous 
and  respectable  part  of  the  human  family,  which  occupied  the 
different  parts  of  North  America,  at  the  time  of  its  first  settlement 
by  the  Anglo-Americans,  contained  more  than  fourteen  millions, 
who  have  been  reduced  since  that  time,  and  undoubtedly  in  con¬ 
sequence  of  that  settlement,  to  something  less  than  two  millions  ! 

This  is  a  startling  fact,  and  one  which  carries  with  it,  if  it  be  the 
truth,  other  facts  and  their  results,  which  are  equally  startling,  and 
such  as  every  inquiring  mind  should  look  into.  The  first  deduction 
that  the  mind  draws  from  such  premises,  is  the  rapid  declension  of 
these  people,  which  must  at  that  rate  be  going  on  at  this  day ;  and 
sooner  or  later,  lead  to  the  most  melancholy  result  of  their  final 
extinction. 

Of  this  sad  termination  of  their  existence,  there  need  not  be  a 
doubt  in  the  minds  of  any  man  who  will  read  the  history  of  their 
former  destruction;  contemplating  them  swept  already  from  two- 
thirds  of  the  Continent ;  and  who  will  then  travel  as  I  have  done 
over  the  vast  extent  of  Frontier,  and  witness  the  modes  by  which 
the  poor  fellows  are  falling,  whilst  contending  for  their  rights,  with 
acquisitive  white  men.  Such  a  reader,  and  such  a  traveller,  I 
venture  to  say,  if  he  has  not  the  heart  of  a  brute,  will  shed  tears  for 
them  ;  and  be  ready  to  admit  that  their  character  and  customs,  are 
at  this  time,  a  subject  of  interest  and  importance,  and  rendered 
peculiarly  so  from  the  facts  that  they  are  dying  at  the  hands  of  their 
Christian  neighbours ;  and,  from  all  past  experience,  that  there  will 
probably  be  no  effectual  plan  instituted,  that  will  save  the  remainder 
of  them  from  a  similar  fate.  As  they  stand  at  this  day,  there  may  be 
four  or  five  hundred  thousand  in  their  primitive  state ;  and  a  million 
nnd  a  half,  that  may  be  said  to  be  semi-civilised,  contending  with  the 
sophistry  of  white  men,  amongst  whom  they  are  timidly  and  unsuc¬ 
cessfully  endeavouring  to  hold  up  their  heads,  and  aping  their 


270 


modes  ;  whilst  they  are  swallowing  their  poisons,  and  yielding  their 
lands  and  their  lives,  to  the  superior  tack  and  cunning  of  their 
merciless  cajolers. 

In  such  parts  of  their  community,  their  customs  are  uninteresting ; 
being  but  poor  and  ridiculous  imitations  of  those  that  are  bad  enough, 
those  practised  by  their  first  teachers — but  in  their  primitive  state, 
their  modes  of  life  and  character,  before  they  are  changed,  are 
subjects  of  curious  interest,  and  all  that  I  have  aimed  to  preserve. 
Their  personal  appearance,  their  dress,  and  many  of  their  modes  of 
life,  I  have  already  described. 

For  their  government,  which  is  purely  such  as  has  been  dictated 
to  them  by  nature  and  necessity  alone,  they  are  indebted  to  no 
foreign,  native,  or  civilised  nation.  For  their  religion,  which  is 
simply  Theism,  they  are  indebted  to  the  Great  Spirit,  and  not  to 
the  Christian  world.  For  their  modes  of  war,  they  owe  nothing  to 
enlightened  nations — using  only  those  weapons,  and  those  modes 
which  are  prompted  by  nature,  and  within  the  means  of  their  rude 
manufactures. 

If,  therefore,  we  do  not  find  in  their  systems  of  polity  and  juris¬ 
prudence,  the  efficacy  and  justice  that  are  dispensed  in  civilised 
institutions — if  we  do  not  find  in  their  religion  the  light  and  the 
grace  that  flow  from  Christian  faith — if  in  wars  they  are  less  honour¬ 
able,  and  wage  them  upon  a  system  of  “  murderous  stratagem,”  it  is 
the  duty  of  the  enlightened  world,  who  administer  justice  in  a  better 
way — who  worship  in  a  more  acceptable  form — and  who  war  on  a 
more  honourable  scale,  to  make  great  allowance  for  their  ignorance, 
and  yield  to  their  credit,  the  fact,  that  if  their  systems  are  less  wise, 
they  are  often  more  free  from  injustice — from  hypocrisy  and  from, 
carnage. 

Their  governments,  if  they  have  any  (for  I  am  almost  disposed  to 
question  the  propriety  of  applying  the  term),  are  generally  alike, 
each  tribe  having  at  its  head,  a  chief  (and  most  generally  a  war  and 
civil  chief),  whom  it  would  seem,  alternately  hold  the  ascendancy,  as 
the  circumstances  of  peace  or  war  may  demand  their  respective  ser¬ 
vices.  These  chiefs,  whose  titles  are  generally  hereditary,  hold  their 
offices  only  as  long  as  their  ages  will  enable  them  to  perform  the 
duties  of  them  by  taking  the  lead  in  war-parties,  etc.,  after  which 
they  devolve  upon  the  next  incumbent,  who  is  the  eldest  son  of  the 
chief,  provided  he  is  decided  by  the  other  chiefs  to  be  as  worthy  of 
it  as  any  other  young  man  in  the  tribe — in  default  of  which,  a  chief 
is  elected  from  amongst  the  sub-chiefs ;  so  that  the  office  is  heredi¬ 
tary  on  condition,  and  elective  in  emergency. 


271 


The  chief  has  no  control  over  the  life  or  limbs,  or  liberty  of  his 
subjects,  nor  other  power  whatever,  excepting  that  of  influence  which 
he  gains  by  his  virtues,  and  his  exploits  in  war,  and  which  induces 
his  warriors  and  braves  to  follow  him,  as  he  leads  them  to  battle — 
or  to  listen  to  him  when  he  speaks  and  advises  in  council.  In  fact, 
he  is  no  more  than  a  leader,  whom  every  young  warrior  may  follow, 
or  turn  about  and  go  back  from,  as  he  pleases,  if  he  is  willing  to 
meet  the  disgrace  that  awaits  him,  who  deserts  his  chief  in  the  hour 
of  danger. 

It  may  be  a  difficult  question  to  decide,  whether  their  govern¬ 
ment  savours  most  of  a  democracy  or  an  aristocracy ;  it  is  in  some 
respects  purely  democratic — and  in  others  aristocratic.  The  influence 
of  names  and  families  is  strictly  kept  up,  and  their  qualities  and 
relative  distinctions  preserved  in  heraldic  family  arms  ;  yet  entirely 
severed,  and  free  from  influences  of  wealth,  which  is  seldom  amassed 
by  any  persons  in  Indian  communities ;  and  most  sure  to  slip  from 
the  hands  of  chiefs,  or  others  high  in  office,  who  are  looked  upon  to 
be  liberal  and  charitable ;  and  oftentimes,  for  the  sake  of  popularity, 
render  themselves  the  poorest,  and  most  meanly  dressed  and  equipped 
of  any  in  the  tribe. 

These  people  have  no  written  laws,  nor  others,  save  the  penalties 
affixed  to  certain  crimes,  by  long-standing  custom,  or  by  the  decisions 
of  the  chiefs  in  council,  who  form  a  sort  of  Court  and  Congress  too, 
for  the  investigation  of  crimes,  and  transaction  of  the  public  business. 
For  the  sessions  of  these  dignitaries,  each  tribe  has,  in  the  middle  of 
their  village,  a  governnent  or  council-house,  where  the  chiefs  often 
try  and  convict,  for  capital  offences — leaving  the  punishment  to  be 
inflicted  by  the  nearest  of  kin,  to  whom  all  eyes  of  the  nation  are 
turned,  and  who  has  no  means  of  evading  it  without  suffering  dis¬ 
grace  in  his  tribe.  For  this  purpose,  the  custom,  which  is  the 
common  law  of  the  land,  allows  him  to  use  any  means  whatever, 
that  he  may  deem  necessary  to  bring  the  thing  effectually  about ; 
and  he  is  allowed  to  waylay  and  shoot  down  the  criminal — so  that 
punishment  is  certain  and  cruel,  and  as  effective  from  the  hands  of 
a  feeble,  as  from  those  of  a  stout  man,  and  entirely  beyond  the 
hope  that  often  arises  from  the  “  glorious  uncertainty  of  the  law.” 

As  I  have  in  a  former  place  said,  cruelty  is  one  of  the  leading 
traits  of  the  Indian’s  character ;  and  a  little  familiarity  with  their 
modes  of  life  and  government  will  soon  convince  the  reader,  that 
certainty  and  cruelty  in  punishments  are  requisite  (where  individuals 
undertake  to  inflict  the  penalties  of  the  laws),  in  order  to  secure  the 
lives  and  property  of  individuals  in  society. 


272 


In  the  treatment  of  their  prisoners  also,  in  many  tribes,  they  are- 
in  the  habit  of  inflicting  the  most  appalling  tortures,  for  which  the 
enlightened  world  are  apt  to  condemn  them  as  cruel  and  unfeeling 
in  the  extreme ;  without  stopping  to  learn  that  in  every  one  of  these 
instances,  these  cruelties  are  practised  by  way  of  retaliation,  by  indi¬ 
viduals  or  families  of  the  tribe,  whose  relatives  have  been  previously 
dealt  with  in  a  similar  way  by  their  enemies,  and  whose  manes  they 
deem  it  their  duty  to  appease  by  this  horrid  and  cruel  mode  of 
retaliation. 

And  in  justice  to  the  savage,  the  reader  should  yet  know,  that 
amongst  these  tribes  that  torture  their  prisoners,  these  cruelties  are 
practised  but  upon  the  few  whose  lives  are  required  to  atone  for  those 
who  have  been  similarly  dealt  with  by  their  enemies,  and  that  the 
remainder  are  adapted  into  the  tribe,  by  marrying  the  widows  whose 
husbands  have  fallen  in  battle,  in  which  capacity  they  are  received 
and  respected  like  others  of  the  tribe,  and  enjoy  equal  rights  and 
immunities.  And  before  we  condemn  them  too  far,  we  should  yet 
pause  and  inquire  whether  in  the  enlightened  world  we  are  not  guilty 
of  equal  cruelties — whether  in  the  ravages  and  carnage  of  war,  and 
treatment  of  prisoners,  we  practise  any  virtue  superior  to  this  ;  and 
whether  the  annals  of  history  which  are  familiar  to  all,  do  not  furnish 
abundant  proof  of  equal  cruelty  to  prisoners  of  war,  as  well  as  in 
many  instances,  to  the  members  of  our  own  respective  communities. 
It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  and  one  well  recorded  in  history,  as  it  de¬ 
serves  to  be,  to  the  honour  of  the  savage,  that  no  instance  has  been 
known  of  violence  to  their  captive  females,  a  virtue  yet  to  be  learned, 
in  civilised  warfare. 

If  their  punishments  are  certain  and  cruel,  they  have  the  merit 
of  being  few,  and  those  confined  chiefly  to  their  enemies.  It  is 
natural  to  be  cruel  to  enemies ;  and  in  this,  I  do  not  see  that  the 
improvements  of  the  enlightened  and  Christian  world  have  yet 
elevated  them  so  very  much  above  the  savage.  To  their  friends, 
there  are  no  people  on  earth  that  are  more  kind ;  and  cruelties  and 
punishments  (except  for  capital  offences)  are  amongst  themselves 
entirely  dispensed  with.  No  man  in  their  communities  is  subject  to 
any  restraints  upon  his  liberty,  or  to  any  corporal  or  degrading 
punishment ;  each  one  valuing  his  limbs,  and  his  liberty  to  use  them 
as  his  inviolable  right,  which  no  power  in  the  tribe  can  deprive  him 
of ;  whilst  each  one  holds  the  chief  as  amenable  to  him  as  the  most 
humble  individual  in  the  tribe. 

On  an  occasion  when  I  had  interrogated  a  Sioux  chief,  on  the 
Upper  Missouri,  about  their  government — their  punishments  and 


tortures  of  prisoners,  for  which  I  had  freely  condemned  them  for  the 
cruelty  of  the  practice,  he  took  occasion  when  I  had  got  through,  to 
ask  me  some  questions  relative  to  modes  in  the  civilised  world,  which, 
with  his  comments  upon  them,  were  nearly  as  follow ;  and  struck  me, 
as  I  think  they  must  every  one,  with  great  force. 

“  Among  white  people,  nobody  ever  take  your  wife — take  your 
children — take  your  mother,  cut  off  nose — cut  eyes  out — burn  to 
death  ?  ”  No !  “  Then  you  no  cut  off  nose — you  no  cut  out  eyes — 

you  no  burn  to  death — very  good.” 

He  also  told  me  he  had  often  heard  that  white  people  hung  their 
criminals  by  the  neck  and  choked  them  to  death  like  dogs,  and  those 
their  own  people ;  to  which  I  answered,  “  yes.”  He  then  told  me  he 
had  learned  that  they  shut  each  other  up  in  prisons,  where  they  keep 
them  a  great  part  of  their  lives  because  they  can’t  pay  money  !  I 
replied  in  the  affirmative  to  this,  which  occasioned  great  surprise  and 
excessive  laughter,  even  amongst  the  women.  He  told  me  that  he 
had  been  to  our  Fort,  at  Council  Bluffs,  where  we  had  a  great  many 
warriors  and  braves,  and  he  saw  three  of  them  taken  out  on  the 
prairies  and  tied  to  a  post  and  whipped  almost  to  death,  and  he  had 
been  told  that  they  submit  to  all  this  to  get  a  little  money,  “  yes.” 

Hesaid  he  had  been  told,  that  when  all  the  white  people  were  born, 
their  white  medicine-men  had  to  stand  by  and  look  on — that  in  the 
Indian  country  the  women  would  not  allow  that — they  would  be 
ashamed — that  he  had  been  along  the  Frontier,  and  a  good  deal 
amongst  the  white  people,  and  he  had  seen  them  whip  their  little 
children — a  thing  that  is  very  cruel — he  had  heard  also,  from  several 
white  medicine-men,  that  the  Great  Spirit  of  the  white  people  was 
the  child  of  a  white  woman,  and  that  he  was  at  last  put  to  death  by 
the  white  people !  This  seemed  to  be  a  thing  that  he  had  not  been 
able  to  comprehend,  and  he  concluded  by  saying,  “  the  Indians’  Great 
Spirit  got  no  mother — the  Indians  no  kill  him,  he  never  die.”  He 
put  me  a  chapter  of  other  questions,  as  to  the  trespasses  of  the  white 
people  on  their  lands — their  continual  corruption  of  the  morais  of 
their  women — and  digging  open  the  Indian’s  graves  to  get  their  bones, 
etc.  To  all  of  which  I  was  compelled  to  reply  in  the  affirmative,  and 
quite  glad  to  close  my  note-book,  and  quietly  to  escape  from  the  throng 
that  had  collected  around  me,  and  saying  (though  to  myself  and 
silently),  that  these  and  a  hundred  other  vices  belong  to  the  civilised 
world,  and  are  practised  upon  (but  certainly,  in  no  instance,  recipro¬ 
cated  by)  the  “  cruel  and  relentless  savage.” 

Of  their  modes  of  war,  of  which  a  great  deal  has  been  written  by 
other  travellers — I  could  say  much,  but  in  the  present  place,  must  be 
v  OL*.  II.  S 


274 


brief.  All  wars,  offensive  or  defensive,  are  decided  on  by  the  chiefs 
and  doctors  in  council,  where  majority  decides  all  questions.  After 
their  resolve,  the  chief  conducts  and  leads — his  pipe  with  the  reddened 
stem  is  sent  through  the  tribe  by  his  runners,  and  every  man  who 
consents  to  go  to  war,  draws  the  smoke  once  through  its  stem ;  he  is 
then  a  volunteer,  like  all  of  their  soldiers  in  war,  and  bound  by  no 
compulsive  power,  except  that  of  pride,  and  dread  of  the  disgrace  of 
turning  back.  After  the  soldiers  are  enlisted,  the  war-dance  is  per¬ 
formed  in  presence  of  the  whole  tribe ;  when  each  warrior  in  warrior’s 
dress,  with  weapons  in  hand,  dances  up  separately,  and  striking  the 
reddened  post,  thereby  takes  the  solemn  oath  not  to  desert  his  party. 

The  chief  leads  in  full  dress  to  make  himself  as  conspicuous  a 
mark  as  possible  for  his  enemy ;  whilst  his  men  are  chiefly  denuded, 
and  their  limbs  and  faces  covered  with  red  earth  or  vermilion,  and 
oftentimes  with  charcoal  and  grease,  so  as  completely  to  disguise 
them,  even  from  the  knowledge  of  many  of  their  intimate  friends. 

At  the  close  of  hostilities,  the  two  parties  are  often  brought 
together  by  a  flag  of  truce,  where  they  sit  in  treaty,  and  solemnise 
by  smoking  through  the  calumet  or  pipe  of  peace,  as  I  have  before 
described ;  and  after  that,  their  warriors  and  braves  step  forward, 
with  the  pipe  of  peace  in  the  left  hand,  and  the  war-club  in  the  right, 
and  dance  around  in  a  circle — going  through  many  curious  and  ex¬ 
ceedingly  picturesque  evolutions  in  the  “pipe  of  peace  dance.” 

To  each  other  I  have  found  these  people  kind  and  honourable,  and 
endowed  with  every  feeling  of  parental,  of  filial,  and  conjugal  affection, 
that  is  met  in  more  enlightened  communities.  I  have  found  them 
moral  and  religious ;  and  I  am  bound  to  give  them  great  credit  for 
their  zeal,  which  is  often  exhibited  in  their  modes  of  worship,  how¬ 
ever  insufficient  they  may  seem  to  us,  or  may  be  in  the  estimation  of 
the  Great  Spirit. 

I  have  heard  it  said  by  some  very  good  men,  and  some  who  have 
even  been  preaching  the  Christian  religion  amongst  them,  that  they 
have  no  religion — that  all  their  zeal  in  their  worship  of  the  Great 
Spirit  was  but  the  foolish  excess  of  ignorant  superstition — that  their 
humble  devotions  and  supplications  to  the  Sun  and  the  Moon,  where 
many  of  them  suppose  that  the  Great  Spirit  resides,  were  but  the 
absurd  rantings  of  idolatry.  To  such  opinions  as  these  I  never  yet 
gave  answer,  nor  drew  other  instant  inferences  from  them,  than,  that 
from  the  bottom  of  my  heart,  I  pitied  the  persons  who  gave  them. 

I  fearlessly  assert  to  the  world  (and  I  defy  contradiction),  that 
the  North  American  Indian  is  everywhere,  in  his  native  state,  a 
highly  moral  and  religious  being,  endowed  by  his  Maker  with  an 


275 


intuitive  knowledge  of  some  great  Author  of  his  being,  and  the 
Universe;  in  dread  of  whose  displeasure  he  constantly  lives,  with 
the  apprehension  before  him,  of  a  future  state,  where  he  expects  to 
be  rewarded  or  punished  according  to  the  merits  he  has  gained  or 
forfeited  in  this  world. 

I  have  made  this  a  subject  of  unceasing  inquiry  during  all  my 
travels,  and  from  every  individual  Indian  with  whom  I  have  con¬ 
versed  on  the  subject,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest  and  most 
pitiably  ignorant,  I  have  received  evidence  enough,  as  well  as  from 
their  numerous  and  humble  modes  of  worship,  to  convince  the  mind, 
and  elicit  the  confessions  of,  any  man  whose  gods  are  not  beaver  and 
muskrats’  skins — or  whose  ambition  is  not  to  be  deemed  an  apostle, 
or  himself,  their  only  redeemer. 

Morality  and  virtue,  I  venture  to  say,  the  civilised  world  need 
not  undertake  to  teach  them ;  and  to  support  me  in  this,  I  refer  the 
reader  to  the  interesting  narrative  of  the  Eev.  Mr  Parker,  amongst 
the  tribes  through  and  beyond  the  Eocky  Mountains;  to  the 
narratives  of  Captain  Bonneville,  through  the  same  regions;  and 
also  to  the  reports  of  the  Eev.  Messrs  Spalding  and  Lee,  who 
have  crossed  the  Mountains,  and  planted  their  little  colony  amongst 
them.  And  I  am  also  allowed  to  refer  to  the  account  given  by  the 
Eev.  Mr  Beaver,  of  the  tribes  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Columbia  and 
the  Pacific  coast. 

Of  their  extraordinary  modes  and  sincerity  of  worship,  I  speak 
with  equal  confidence ;  and  although  I  am  compelled  to  pity  them 
for  their  ignorance,  I  am  bound  to  say  that  I  never  saw  any  other 
people  of  any  colour,  who  spend  so  much  of  their  lives  in  humbling 
themselves  before,  and  worshipping  the  Great  Spirit,  as  some  of  these 
tribes  do,  nor  any  whom  I  would  not  as  soon  suspect  of  insincerity 
and  hypocrisy. 

Self-denial,  which  is  comparatively  a  word  of  no  meaning  in  the 
enlightened  world ;  and  self-torture  and  almost  self-immolation,  are 
continual  modes  of  appealing  to  the  Great  Spirit  for  his  countenance 
and  forgiveness;  and  these,  not  in  studied  figures  of  rhetoric,  re¬ 
sounding  in  halls  and  synagogues,  to  fill  and  astonish  the  ears  of  the 
multitude;  but  humbly  cried  forth  from  starved  stomachs  and 
parched  throats,  from  some  lone  and  favourite  haunts,  where  the 
poor  penitents  crawl  and  lie  with  their  faces  in  the  dirt  from  day 
to  day,  and  day  to  day  sobbing  forth  their  humble  confessions  of 
their  sins,  and  their  earnest  implorations  for  Divine  forgiveness 
and  mercy. 

I  have  seen  man  thus  prostrating  himself  before  his  Maker,  and 


276 


worshipping  as  Nature  taught  him;  and  I  have  seen  mercenary 
white  man  with  his  bottle  and  its  associate  vices,  unteacking  them ; 
and  after  that,  good  and  benevolent  and  pious  men,  devotedly  wearing 
out  their  valuable  lives,  all  but  in  vain,  endeavouring  to  break  down 
confirmed  habits  of  cultivated  vices  and  dissipation,  and  to  engraft 
upon  them  the  blessings  of  Christianity  and  civilisation.  I  have 
visited  most  of  the  stations,  and  am  acquainted  with  many  of  the 
excellent  missionaries,  who,  with  their  families  falling  by  the  diseases 
of  the  country  about  them,  are  zealously  labouring  to  benefit  these 
benighted  people ;  hut  I  have,  with  thousands  and  millions  of  others, 
to  deplore  the  ill  success  with  which  their  painful  and  faithful 
labours  have  generally  been  attended. 

This  failure  I  attribute  not  to  the  want  of  capacity  on  the  part 
of  the  savage,  nor  for  lack  of  zeal  and  Christian  endeavours  of  those 
who  have  been  sent,  and  to  whom  the  eyes  of  the  sympathising  part 
of  the  world  have  been  anxiously  turned,  in  hopes  of  a  more 
encouraging  account.  The  misfortune  has  been,  in  my  opinion,  that 
these  efforts  have  mostly  been  made  in  the  wrong  place — along  the 
Frontier,  where  (though  they  have  stood  most  in  need  of  Christian 
advice  and  example)  they  have  been  the  least  ready  to  hear  it  or  to 
benefit  from  its  introduction ;  where  whiskey  has  been  sold  for 
twenty,  or  thirty,  or  fifty  years,  and  every  sort  of  fraud  and  abuse 
that  could  be  engendered  and  visited  upon  them,  and  amongst  their 
families,  by  ingenious,  money -making  white  man ;  rearing  up  under 
a  burning  sense  of  injustice,  the  most  deadly  and  thwarting  pre¬ 
judices,  which,  and  which  alone,  in  my  opinion,  have  stood  in  the 
way  of  the  introduction  of  Christianity — of  agriculture,  and  every¬ 
thing  which  virtuous  society  has  attempted  to  teach  them;  which 
they  meet  and  suspect,  and  reject  as  some  new  trick  or  enterprise  of 
white  man,  which  is  to  redound  to  his  advantage  rather  than  for  their 
own  benefit. 

The  pious  missionary  finds  himself  here,  I  would  venture  to  say, 
in  an  indescribable  vicinity  of  mixed  vices  and  stupid  ignorance,  that 
disgust  and  discourage  him ;  and  just  at  the  moment  when  his  new 
theory,  which  has  been  at  first  received  as  a  mystery  to  them,  is 
about  to  be  successfully  revealed  and  explained,  the  whiskey  bottle 
is  handed  again  from  the  bushes;  and  the  poor  Indian  (whose 
perplexed  mind  is  just  ready  to  catch  the  brilliant  illumination  of 
Christianity),  grasps  it,  and,  like  too  many  people  in  the  enlightened 
world,  quiets  his  excited  feelings  with  its  soothing  draught,  embracing 
most  affectionately  the  friend  that  brings  him  the  most  sudden  relief ; 


277 


and  is  contented  to  fall  back,  and  linger — and  die  in  the  moral  dark¬ 
ness  that  is  about  him. 

And  notwithstanding  the  great  waste  of  missionary  labours,  on 
many  portions  of  our  vast  Frontier,  there  have  been  some  instances 
in  which  their  efforts  have  been  crowned  with  signal  success  (even 
with  the  counteracting  obstacles  that  have  stood  in  their  way),  of 
which  instances  I  have  made  some  mention  in  former  epistles. 

I  have  always  been,  and  still  am,  an  advocate  for  missionary 
efforts  amongst  these  people,  but  I  never  have  had  much  faith  in  the 
success  of  any  unless  they  could  be  made  amongst  the  tribes  in  their 
primitive  state ;  where,  if  the  strong  arm  of  the  Government  could  be 
extended  out  to  protect  them,  I  believe  that  with  the  example  of  good 
and  pious  men,  teaching  them  at  the  same  time  agriculture  and  the 
useful  arts,  much  could  he  done  with  these  interesting  and  talented 
people,  for  the  successful  improvement  of  their  moral  and  physical 
condition. 

I  have  ever  thought,  and  still  think,  that  the  Indian’s  mind  is  a 
beautiful  blank,  on  which  anything  might  be  written,  if  the  right 
mode  were  taken  to  do  it. 

Could  the  enlightened  and  virtuous  society  of  the  East  have  been 
brought  in  contact  with  him  as  his  first  neighbours,  and  his  eyes  been 
first  opened  to  improvements  and  habits  worthy  of  his  imitation ;  and 
could  religion  have  been  taught  him  without  the  interference  of  the 
counteracting  vices  by  which  he  is  surrounded,  the  best  efforts  of  the 
world  would  not  have  been  thrown  away  upon  him,  nor  posterity 
been  left  to  say,  in  future  ages,  when  he  and  his  race  shall  have  been 
swept  from  the  face  of  the  earth,  that  he  was  destined  by  Heaven  to 
be  unconverted  and  uncivilised. 

The  Indian’s  calamity  is  surely  far  this  side  of  his  origin — 
bis  misfortune  has  been  in  his  education.  Ever  since  our  first 
acquaintance  with  these  people  on  the  Atlantic  shores,  have  we 
regularly  advanced  upon  them;  and  far  ahead  of  good  and  moral 
society  have  their  first  teachers  travelled  (and  are  yet  travelling), 
with  vices  and  iniquities  so  horrible  as  to  blind  their  eyes  for  ever  to 
the  light  and  loveliness  of  virtue,  when  she  is  presented  to  them. 

It  is  in  the  bewildering  maze  of  this  moving  atmosphere  that  he 
in  his  native  simplicity,  finds  himself  lost  amidst  the  ingenuity  and 
sophistry  of  his  new  acquaintance.  He  stands  amazed  at  the  arts 
and  improvements  of  civilised  life — his  proud  spirit,  which  before 
was  founded  on  his  ignorance,  droops,  and  he  sinks  down  discouraged, 
into  melancholy  and  despair ;  and  at  that  moment  grasps  the  bottle 
(which  is  ever  ready),  to  soothe  his  anguished  feelings  to  the  grave. 


278 


It  is  in  this  deplorable  condition  that  the  civilised  world,  in  their 
approach,  have  ever  found  him ;  and  here  in  his  inevitable  misery, 
that  the  charity  of  the  world  has  been  lavished  upon  him,  and 
religion  has  exhausted  its  best  efforts  almost  in  vain. 

Notwithstanding  this  destructive  ordeal,  through  which  all  the 
border  tribes  have  had  to  pass,  and  of  whom  I  have  spoken  but  in 
general  terms,  there  are  striking  and  noble  exceptions  on  the 
Frontiers,  of  individuals,  and  in  some  instances,  of  the  remaining 
remnants  of  tribes,  who  have  followed  the  advice  and  example  of  their 
Christian  teachers ;  who  have  entirely  discarded  their  habits  of 
dissipation,  and  successfully  outlived  the  dismal  wreck  of  their  tribe 
— having  embraced,  and  are  now  preaching,  the  Christian  religion ; 
and  proving  by  the  brightest  example,  that  they  are  well  worthy  of 
the  sincere  and  well-applied  friendship  of  the  enlightened  world, 
rather  than  their  enmity  and  persecution. 

By  nature  they  are  decent  and  modest,  unassuming  and  inoffen¬ 
sive — and  all  history  (which  I  could  quote  to  the  end  of  a  volume), 
proves  them  to  have  been  found  friendly  and  hospitable,  on  the  first 
approach  of  white  people  to  their  villages  on  all  parts  of  the 
American  Continent — and  from  what  I  have  seen  (which  I  offer  as 
proof,  rather  than  what  I  have  read ),  I  am  willing  and  proud  to 
add,  for  the  ages  who  are  only  to  read  of  these  people,  my  testimony 
to  that  which  was  given  by  the  immortal  Columbus,  who  wrote  back 
to  his  Boyal  Master  and  Mistress,  from  his  first  position  on  the  new 
Continent,  “  I  swear  to  your  Majesties,  that  there  is  not  a  better 
people  in  the  world  than  these ;  more  affectionate,  affable,  or  mild. 
They  love  their  neighours  as  themselves,  and  they  always  speak 
smilingly.” 

They  are  ingenious  and  talented,  as  many  of  their  curious  manu¬ 
factures  will  prove,  which  are  seen  by  thousands  in  my  Collection. 

In  the  mechanic  arts  they  have  advanced  but  little,  probably 
because  they  have  had  but  little  use  for  them,  and  have  had  no 
teachers  to  bring  them  out.  In  the  fine  arts,  they  are  perhaps  still 
more  rude,  and  their  productions  are  very  few.  Their  materials  and 
implements  that  they  work  with,  are  exceedingly  rare  and  simple ; 
and  their  principal  efforts  at  pictorial  effects,  are  found  on  their 
buffalo  robes ;  of  which  I  have  given  some  account  in  former  Letters, 
and  of  which  I  shall  herein  furnish  some  additional  information. 

I  have  been  unable  to  find  anything  like  a  system  of  hieroglyphic 
writing  amongst  them ;  yet,  their  picture  writings  on  the  rocks,  and 
on  their  robes,  approach  somewhat  towards  it.  Of  the  former,  1 
have  seen  a  vast  many  in  the  course  of  my  travels ;  and  I  have 


173 


306 


(r  C'/<tljSV 


m 


3  07 

-O'jjz 


175 


G.  Caitiff; 


30$ 


279 


satisfied  myself  that  they  are  generally  the  totems  (symbolic  names) 
merely,  of  Indians  who  have  visited  those  places,  and  from  a  similar 
feeling  of  vanity  that  everywhere  belongs  to  man  much  alike,  have 
been  in  the  habit  of  recording  their  names  or  symbols,  such  as  birds, 
beasts,  or  reptiles ;  by  which  each  family,  and  each  individual,  is 
generally  known,  as  white  men  are  in  the  habit  of  recording  their 
names  at  watering-places,  etc. 

Many  of  these  have  recently  been  ascribed  to  the  Northmen,  who 
probably  discovered  this  country  at  an  early  period,  and  have  been 
extinguished  by  the  savage  tribes.  I  might  have  subscribed  to  such 
a  theory,  had  I  not  at  the  Eed  Pipe  Stone  Quarry,  where  there  are  a 
vast  number  of  these  inscriptions  cut  in  the  solid  rock,  and  at  other 
places  also,  seen  the  Indian  at  work,  recording  his  totem  amongst 
those  of  more  ancient  dates;  which  convinced  me  that  they  had 
been  progressively  made,  at  different  ages,  and  without  any  system 
that  could  be  called  hieroglyphic  writing. 

The  paintings  on  their  robes  are  in  many  cases  exceedingly 
curious,  and  generally  represent  the  exploits  of  their  military  lives, 
which  they  are  proud  of  recording  in  this  way  and  exhibiting  on 
their  backs  as  they  walk. 

In  Figs.  306  and  307,  are  facsimiles  of  the  paintings  on  a  Crow 
robe,  which  hangs  in  my  Collection,  amongst  many  others  from 
various  tribes ;  exhibiting  the  different  tastes,  and  state  of  the  fine 
arts,  in  the  different  tribes.  All  the  groups  on  these  two  Figs,  are 
taken  from  one  robe ;  and  on  the  original,  are  quite  picturesque,  from 
the  great  variety  of  vivid  colours  which  they  have  there  given  to 
them.  The  reader  will  recollect  the  robe  of  3Iah-to-toh-pa,  which  I 
described  in  the  First  Volume  of  this  work.  And  he  will  find  here 
something  very  similar,  the  battles  of  a  distinguished  war-chief’s  life  ; 
all  portrayed  by  his  own  hand,  and  displayed  on  his  back  as  he  walks, 
where  all  can  read,  and  all  of  course  are  challenged  to  deny.* 

In  Fig.  308,  are  facsimile  outlines  from  about  one-half  of  a  group 
on  a  Pawnee  robe,  also  hanging  in  the  exhibition ;  representing  a 
procession  of  doctors  or  medicine-men,  when  one  of  them,  the  foremost 
one,  is  giving  freedom  to  his  favourite  horse.  This  is  a  very  curious 
custom,  which  I  found  amongst  many  of  the  tribes,  and  is  done  by  his 
announcing  to  all  of  his  fraternity,  that  on  a  certain  day,  he  is  going 
to  give  liberty  to  his  faithful  horse  that  has  longest  served  him,  and 

*  The  reader  will  bear  it  in  mind,  that  these  drawings,  as  well  as  all  those  of  the 
kind  that  have  heretofore  been  given,  and  those  that  are  to  follow,  have  been  cor¬ 
rectly  traced  with  a  Camera,  from  the  robes  and  other  works  of  the  Indians  belonging 
to  my  Indian  Museum. 


280 


he  expects  them  all  to  be  present ;  at  the  time  and  place  appointed 
they  all  appear  on  horseback,  most  fantastically  painted,  and  dressed, 
as  well  as  armed  and  equipped ;  when  the  owner  of  the  horse  leads 
the  procession,  and  drives  before  him  his  emancipated  horse,  which  is 
curiously  painted  and  branded ;  which  he  holds  in  check  with  a  long 
lasso.  When  they  have  arrived  at  the  proper  spot  on  the  prairie,  the 
ceremony  takes  place  of  turning  it  loose,  and  giving  it,  it  would  seem, 
as  a  sort  of  sacrifice  to  the  Great  Spirit.  This  animal  after  this, 
takes  his  range  amongst  the  bands  of  wild  horses  ;  and  if  caught  by 
the  lasso,  as  is  often  the  case,  is  discharged,  under  the  superstitious 
belief  that  it  belongs  to  the  Great  Spirit,  and  not  with  impunity  to 
be  appropriated  by  them. 

Besides  this  curious  custom,  there  are  very  many  instances  where 
these  magicians  (the  avails  of  whose  practice  enables  them  to  do  it, 
in  order  to  enthral  the  ignorant  and  superstitious  minds  of  their 
people,  as  well  as,  perhaps,  to  quiet  their  own  apprehensions),  sacrifice 
to  the  Great  or  Evil  Spirit,  their  horses  and  dogs,  by  killing  them 
instead  of  turning  them  loose.  These  sacrifices  are  generally  made 
immediately  to  their  medicine-lags,  or  to  their  family -medicine,  which 
every  family  seems  to  have  attached  to  their  household,  in  addition 
to  that  which  appropriately  belongs  to  individuals.  And  in  making 
these  sacrifices,  and  all  gifts  to  the  Great  Spirit,  there  is  one  thing 
yet  to  be  told — that  whatever  gift  is  made,  whether  a  horse,  a  dog,  or 
other  article,  it  is  sure  to  be  the  lest  of  its  kind  that  the  giver  possesses, 
otherwise  he  subjects  himself  to  disgrace  in  his  tribe,  and  to  the  ill- 
will  of  the  power  he  is  endeavouring  to  conciliate.* 

In  Fig.  309,  there  is  a  facsimile  copy  of  the  paintings  on  another 
Pawnee  robe,  the  property  and  the  designs  of  a  distinguished  doctor 
or  medicine-man.  In  the  centre  he  has  represented  himself  in  full 
dress  on  his  favourite  horse ;  and,  at  the  top  and  bottom,  it  would 
seem,  he  has  endeavoured  to  set  up  his  claims  to  the  reputation  of  a 
warrior,  with  the  heads  of  seven  victims  which  he  professes  to  have 
slain  in  battle.  On  the  sides  there  are  numerous  figures,  very 
curiously  denoting  his  profession,  where  he  is  vomiting  and  purging 
his  patients,  with  herbs ;  where  also  he  has  represented  his  medicine 
or  totem,  the  Bear.  And  also  the  rising  of  the  sun,  and  the  different 
phases  of  the  moon,  which  these  magicians  look  to  with  great 

*  Lewis  and  Clarke,  in  their  Tour  across  the  Rocky  Mountains,  have  given  an 
account  of  a  Mandan  chief,  who  had  sacrificed  seventeen  horses  to  his  medicine- 
bag — to  conciliate  the  goodwill  of  the  Great  Spirit.  And  I  have  met  many  instances, 
where,  while  boasting  to  me  of  their  exploits  and  their  liberality,  they  have  claimed 
to  have  given  several  of  their  horses  to  the  Great  Spirit,  and  as  many  to  white  men  1 


176 


G  Ca/lin 


309 


X3 — S— 1 


277 


G.  Cccblvtis 


310 


178 .  . 


179 


;>I2 


281 


dependence  for  the  operation  of  their  charms  and  mysteries  in 
affecting  the  cure  of  their  patients. 

In  Kg.  310,  is  a  further  exemplification  of  symbolic  representa¬ 
tions,  as  well  as  of  the  state  of  the  arts  of  drawing  and  design  amongst 
these  rude  people.  This  curious  chart  is  a  facsimile  copy  of  an 
Indian  song,  which  was  drawn  on  a  piece  of  birch  bark,  about  twice 
the  size  of  the  Fig.,  and  used  by  the  Chippeways  preparatory  to  a 
medicine-hunt,  as  they  term  it.  For  the  bear,  the  moose,  the  beaver, 
and  nearly  every  animal  they  hunt  for,  they  have  certain  seasons  to 
commence,  and  previous  to  which,  they  “  make  medicine  ”  for  several 
days,  to  conciliate  the  bear  (or  other)  Spirit,  to  ensure  a  successful 
season.  For  this  purpose,  these  doctors,  who  are  the  only  persons, 
generally,  who  are  initiated  into  these  profound  secrets,  sing  forth, 
with  the  beat  of  the  drum,  the  songs  which  are  written  in  characters 
on  these  charts,  in  which  all  dance  and  join  in  the  chorus ;  although 
they  are  generally  as  ignorant  of  the  translation  and  meaning  of  the 
song,  as  a  mere  passing  traveller ;  and  which  they  have  no  means  of 
learning,  except  by  extraordinary  claims  upon  the  tribe,  for  their 
services  as  warriors  and  hunters ;  and  then  by  an  extraordinary  fee 
to  be  given  to  the  mystery-men,  who  alone  can  reveal  them,  and  that 
under  the  most  profound  injunctions  of  secrecy.  I  was  not  initiated 
far  enough  in  this  tribe,  to  explain  the  mysteries  that  are  hidden  on 
this  little  chart,  though  I  heard  it  sung  over,  and  listened  (I  am  sure) 
at  least  one  hour,  before  they  had  sung  it  all. 

Of  these  kinds  of  symbolic  writings,  and  totems,  such  as  are  given 
in  Fig.  311,  recorded  on  rocks  and  trees  in  the  country,  a  volume 
might  be  filled ;  and  from  the  knowledge  which  I  have  been  able 
to  obtain  of  them,  I  doubt  whether  I  should  be  able  to  give  with 
them  all,  much  additional  information,  to  that  which  I  have 
briefly  given  in  these  few  simple  instances.  Their  picture  writing, 
which  is  found  on  their  robes,  their  wigwams,  and  different  parts 
of  their  dress,  is  also  voluminous  and  various;  and  can  be  best 
studied  by  the  curious,  on  the  numerous  articles  in  the  Museum, 
where  they  have  the  additional  interest  of  having  been  traced  by  the 
Indian’s  own  hand. 

In  Fig.  312,  is  also  a  facsimile  of  a  Mandan  robe,  with  a  representa¬ 
tion  of  the  sun,  most  wonderfully  painted  upon  it.  This  curious  robe, 
which  was  a  present  from  an  esteemed  friend  of  mine  amongst  those 
unfortunate  people,  is  now  in  my  Collection ;  where  it  may  speak  for 
itself,  after  this  brief  introduction. 

From  these  brief  hints,  which  I  have  too  hastily  thrown  together, 
it  will  be  seen  that  these  people  are  ingenious,  and  have  much  in  their 

s* 


282 


modes  as  well  as  in  their  manners,  to  enlist  the  attention  of  the 
merely  curious,  even  if  they  should  not  be  drawn  nearer  to  them  by 
feelings  of  sympathy  and  pity  for  their  existing  and  approaching 
misfortunes. 

But  he  who  can  travel  amongst  them,  or  even  sit  down  in  his 
parlour,  with  his  map  of  North  America  before  him,  with  Halkett’s 
Notes  on  the  History  of  the  North  American  Indians  (and  several 
other  very  able  works  that  have  been  written  on  their  character  and 
history),  and  fairly  and  truly  contemplate  the  system  of  universal 
abuse,  that  is  hurrying  such  a  people  to  utter  destruction,  will  find 
enough  to  enlist  all  his  sympathies,  and  lead  him  to  cultivate  a  more 
general  and  intimate  acquaintance  with  their  true  character. 

He  who  will  sit  and  contemplate  that  vast  Frontier,  where,  by 
the  past  policy  of  the  Government,  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand 
of  these  poor  people  (who  had  just  got  initiated  into  the  mysteries 
and  modes  of  civilised  life,  surrounded  by  examples  of  industry  and 
agriculture  which  they  were  beginning  to  adopt),  have  been  removed 
several  hundred  miles  to  the  West,  to  meet  a  second  siege  of  the 
whiskey-sellers  and  traders  in  the  wilderness,  to  whose  enormous 
exactions  their  semi-civilised  habits  and  appetites  have  subjected 
them,  will  assuredly  pity  them.  Where  they  have  to  quit  their 
acquired  luxuries,  or  pay  ten  times  their  accustomed  prices  for  them 
— and  to  scuffle  for  a  few  years  upon  the  plains,  with  the  wild  tribes, 
and  with  white  men  also,  for  the  flesh  and  the  skins  of  the  last 
of  the  buffaloes ;  where  their  carnage,  but  not  their  appetites, 
must  stop  in  a  few  years,  and  with  the  ghastliness  of  hunger  and 
despair,  they  will  find  themselves  gazing  at  each  other  upon  the 
vacant  waste,  which  will  afford  them  nothing  but  the  empty  air,  and 
the  desperate  resolve  to  flee  to  the  woods  and  fastnesses  of  the  Bocky 
Mountains ;  whilst  more  lucky  white  man  will  return  to  his  comfor¬ 
table  home,  with  no  misfortune,  save  that  of  deep  remorse  and  a  guilty 
conscience.  Such  a  reader  will  find  enough  to  claim  his  pity  and 
engage  his  whole  soul’s  indignation,  at  the  wholesale  and  retail 
system  of  injustice,  which  has  been,  from  the  very  first  landing  of 
our  forefathers  (and  is  equally  at  the  present  day,  being),  visited  upon 
these  poor,  and  naturally  unoffending,  untrespassing  people. 

In  alluding  to  the  cruel  policy  of  removing  the  different  tribes  to 
their  new  country,  west  of  the  Mississippi,  I  would  not  do  it  without 
the  highest  respect  to  the  motives  of  the  Government — and  to  the 
feelings  and  opinions  of  those  worthy  Divines,  whose  advice  and 
whose  services  were  instrumental  in  bringing  it  about ;  and  who,  no 
doubt,  were  of  opinion  that  they  were  effecting  a  plan  that  would 


283 


redound  to  the  Indian’s  benefit.  Such  was  once  my  own  opinion — 
but  when  I  go,  as  I  have  done,  through  every  one  of  those  tribes 
removed,  who  had  learned  at  home  to  use  the  ploughshare,  and  also 
contracted  a  passion,  and  a  taste  for  civilised  manufactures;  and 
after  that,  removed  twelve  and  fourteen  hundred  miles  west,  to  a  wild 
and  lawless  region,  where  their  wants  are  to  be  supplied  by  the  traders, 
at  eight  or  ten  times  the  prices  they  have  been  in  the  habit  of  paying ; 
where  whiskey  can  easily  be  sold  to  them  in  a  boundless  and  lawless 
forest,  without  the  restraints  that  can  be  successfully  put  upon  the 
sellers  of  it  in  their  civilised  neighbourhoods ;  and  where  also  they 
are  allured  from  the  use  of  their  ploughs,  by  the  herds  of  buffaloes 
and  other  wild  animals  on  the  plains ;  I  am  compelled  to  state,  as 
my  irresistible  conviction,  that  I  believe  the  system  one  well  calcu¬ 
lated  to  benefit  the  interests  of  the  voracious  land-speculators  and 
Indian  Traders ;  the  first  of  whom  are  ready  to  grasp  at  their  lands, 
as  soon  as  they  are  vacated — and  the  others  at  the  annuities  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty  thousand  extravagant  customers.  I  believe  the 
system  is  calculated  to  aid  these,  and  perhaps  to  facilitate  the  growth 
and  the  wealth  of  the  civilised  border ;  but  I  believe,  like  everything 
else  that  tends  to  white  man’s  aggrandisement,  and  the  increase  of 
his  wealth,  it  will  have  as  rapid  a  tendency  to  the  poverty  and  destruc¬ 
tion  of  the  poor  red  men  ;  who,  unfortunately,  almost  seemed  doomed, 
never  in  any  way  to  be  associated  in  interest  with  their  pale-faced 
neighbours. 

The  system  of  trade,  and  the  small-pox,  have  been  the  great  and 
wholesale  destroyers  of  these  poor  people,  from  the  Atlantic  coast 
to  where  they  are  now  found.  And  no  one  but  God  knows  where 
the  voracity  of  the  one  is  to  stop,  short  of  the  acquisition  of  every¬ 
thing  that  is  desirable  to  money-making  man  in  the  Indian’s  country ; 
or  when  the  mortal  destruction  of  the  other  is  to  be  arrested,  whilst 
there  is  untried  flesh  for  it  to  act  upon,  either  within  or  beyond  the 
Eocky  Mountains. 

Prom  the  first  settlements  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  to  where  it  is 
now  carried  on  at  the  base  of  the  Eocky  Mountains,  there  has  been 
but  one  system  of  trade  and  money-making,  by  hundreds  and 
thousands  of  white  men,  who  are  desperately  bent  upon  making 
their  fortunes  in  this  trade  with  the  unsophisticated  children  of 
the  forest;  and  generally  they  have  succeeded  in  the  achievement 
of  their  object. 

The  Governments  of  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain,  have 
always  held  out  every  encouragement  to  the  Fur  Traders,  whose 
traffic  has  uniformly  been  looked  upon  as  beneficial,  and  a  source  of 


284 


wealth  to  nations ;  though  surely,  they  never  could  have  considered 
such  intercourse  as  advantageous  to  the  savage. 

Besides  the  many  thousands  who  are  daily  and  hourly  selling 
whiskey  and  rum,  and  useless  geegaws,  to  the  Indians  on  the  United 
States,  the  Canada,  the  Texan  and  Mexican  borders,  there  are,  of 
hardy  adventurers,  in  the  Bocky  Mountain  and  beyond,  or  near  them 
and  out  of  all  limits  of  laws,  one  thousand  armed  men  in  the  annual 
employ  of  the  United  States  Fur  Companies — an  equal  number  in 
the  employment  of  the  British  Factories,  and  twice  that  number  in 
the  Bussian  and  Mexican  possessions ;  all  of  whom  pervade  the 
countries  of  the  wildest  tribes  they  can  reach,  with  guns  and  gun¬ 
powder  in  their  hands,  and  other  instruments  of  death,  unthought  of 
by  the  simple  savage,  calculated  to  terrify  and  coerce  him  to  favour¬ 
able  terms  in  his  trade ;  and  in  all  instances  they  assume  the  right 
(and  prove  it,  if  necessary,  by  the  superiority  of  their  weapons),  of 
hunting  and  trapping  the  streams  and  lakes  of  their  countries. 

These  traders,  in  addition  to  the  terror,  and  sometimes  death, 
that  they  carry  into  these  remote  realms,  at  the  muzzles  of  their 
guns,  as  well  as  by  whiskey  and  the  small-pox,  are  continually  arm¬ 
ing  tribe  after  tribe  with  fire-arms ;  who  are  able  thereby,  to  bring 
their  unsuspecting  enemies  into  unequal  combats,  where  they  are 
slain  by  thousands,  and  who  have  no  way  to  heal  the  awful  wound 
but  by  arming  themselves  in  turn ;  and  in  a  similar  manner  reeking 
their  vengeance  upon  their  defenceless  enemies  on  the  west.  In  this 
wholesale  way,  and  by  whiskey  and  disease,  tribe  after  tribe  sink 
their  heads  and  lose  their  better,  proudest  half,  before  the  next  and 
succeeding  waves  of  civilisation  flow  on,  to  see  or  learn  anything 
definite  of  them. 

Without  entering  at  this  time,  into  any  detailed  history  of  this 
immense  system,  or  denunciation  of  any  of  the  men  or  their  motives, 
who  are  engaged  in  it,  I  would  barely  observe,  that,  from  the  very 
nature  of  their  traffic,  where  their  goods  are  to  be  carried  several 
thousands  of  miles,  on  the  most  rapid  and  dangerous  streams,  over 
mountains  and  other  almost  discouraging  obstacles ;  and  that  at  the 
continual  hazard  to  their  lives,  from  accidents  and  diseases  of  the 
countries,  the  poor  Indians  are  obliged  to  pay  such  enormous  prices 
for  their  goods,  that  the  balance  of  trade  is  so  decidedly  against 
them,  as  soon  to  lead  them  to  poverty ;  and,  unfortunately  for  them, 
they  mostly  contract  a  taste  for  whiskey  and  rum,  which  are  not  only 
ruinous  in  their  prices,  but  in  their  effects  destructive  to  life — destroy¬ 
ing  the  Indians  much  more  rapidly  than  an  equal  indulgence  will 
destroy  the  civilised  constitution. 


285 


In  the  Indian  communities,  where  there  is  no  law  of  the  land  or 
custom  denominating  it  a  vice  to  drink  whiskey,  and  to  get  drunk ; 
and  where  the  poor  Indian  meets  whiskey  tendered  to  him  by  white 
men,  whom  he  considers  wiser  than  himself,  and  to  whom  he 
naturally  looks  for  example;  he  thinks  it  no  harm  to  drink  to 
excess,  and  will  lie  drunk  as  long  as  he  can  raise  the  means  to  pay 
for  it.  And  after  his  first  means,  in  his  wild  state,  are  exhausted, 
he  becomes  a  beggar  for  whiskey,  and  begs  until  he  disgusts,  when 
the  honest  pioneer  becomes  his  neighbour ;  and  then,  and  not  before, 
gets  the  name  of  the  “  poor,  degraded,  naked,  and  drunken  Indian,” 
to  whom  the  epithets  are  well  and  truly  applied. 

On  this  great  system  of  carrying  the  Fur  Trade  into  the  Rocky 
Mountains  and  other  parts  of  the  wilderness  country,  where  whiskey 
is  sold  at  the  rate  of  twenty  and  thirty  dollars  per  gallon,  and  most 
other  articles  of  trade  at  a  similar  rate ;  I  know  of  no  better  com¬ 
ment,  nor  any  more  excusable,  than  the  quotation  of  a  few  passages 
from  a  very  popular  work,  which  is  being  read  with  great  avidity, 
from  the  pen  of  a  gentleman  whose  name  gives  currency  to  any  book, 
and  whose  fine  taste,  pleasure  to  all  who  read.  The  work  I  refer  to, 
The  Rocky  Mountains,  or  Adventures  in  the  Far  West,  by  W.  Irving, 
is  a  very  interesting  one ;  and  its  incidents,  no  doubt,  are  given  with 
great  candour,  by  the  excellent  officer,  Captain  Bonneville,  who  spent 
five  years  in  the  region  of  the  Eocky  Mountains,  on  a  furlough; 
endeavouring,  in  competition  with  others,  to  add  to  his  fortune,  by 
pushing  the  Fur  Trade  to  some  of  the  wildest  tribes  in  those  remote 
regions. 

“  The  worthy  Captain  (says  the  author)  started  into  the  country 
with  110  men;  whose  very  appearance  and  equipment  exhibited  a 
piebald  mixture — half -civilised  and  half-savage,  etc.”  And  he  also 
preludes  his  work  by  saying,  that  it  was  revised  by  himself  from 
Captain  Bonneville’s  own  notes,  which  can,  no  doubt,  be  relied  on. 

This  medley  group,  it  seems,  traversed  the  country  to  the  Eocky 
Mountains,  where,  amongst  the  Nez  Pereas  and  Flatheads,  he  says, 
“  They  were  friendly  in  their  dispositions,  and  honest  to  the  most 
scrupulous  degree  in  their  intercourse  with  the  white  men.  And  of 
the  same  people,  the  Captain  continues — Simply  to  call  these  people 
religious,  would  convey  hut  a  faint  idea  of  the  deep  hue  of  piety  and 
devotion  which  pervades  the  whole  of  their  conduct.  Their  honesty 
is  immaculate ;  and  their  purity  of  purpose,  and  their  observance  of 
the  rites  of  their  religion,  are  most  uniform  and  remarkable.  They 
are,  certainly,  more  like  a  nation  of  saints  than  a  horde  of  savages.” 

Afterwards,  of  the  “  Root-Diggers ,”  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Great 


286 


Salt  Lake,  who  are  a  band  of  the  Snake  tribe  (and  of  whom  he  speaks 
thus : — “  In  fact,  they  are  a  simple,  timid,  inoffensive  race,  and  scarce 
provided  with  any  weapons,  except  for  the  chase”);  he  says  that 
“  one  morning,  one  of  his  trappers,  of  a  violent  and  savage  character, 
discovering  that  his  traps  had  been  carried  off  in  the  night,  took 
a  horrid  oath  that  he  would  kill  the  first  Indian  he  should  meet, 
innocent  or  guilty.  As  he  was  returning  with  his  comrades  to  camp, 
he  beheld  two  unfortunate  Boot-Diggers  seated  on  the  river  bank 
fishing — advancing  upon  them,  ho  levelled  his  rifle,  shot  one  upon 
the  spot,  and  flung  his  bleeding  body  into  the  stream.” 

A  short  time  afterwards,  when  his  party  of  trappers  “  were  about 
to  cross  Ogden’s  river,  a  great  number  of  Shoshokies  or  Boot-Diggers 
were  posted  on  the  opposite  bank,  when  they  imagined  they  were 
there  with  hostile  intent ;  they  advanced  upon  them,  levelled  their 
rifles,  and  killed  twenty-five  of  them  on  the  spot.  The  rest  fled  to 
a  short  distance,  then  halted  and  turned  about,  howling  and  whin¬ 
ing  like  wolves,  and  uttering  most  piteous  wailings.  The  trappers 
chased  them  in  every  direction ;  the  poor  wretches  made  no  defence, 
but  fled  with  terror ;  neither  does  it  appear  from  the  accounts  of  the 
boasted  victors,  that  a  weapon  had  been  wielded,  or  a  weapon 
launched  by  the  Indians  throughout  the  affair.” 

After  this  affair,  this  “  piebald  ”  band  of  trappers  wandered  off  ta 
Monterey,  on  the  coast  of  California,  and  on  their  return  on  horse¬ 
back  through  an  immense  tract  of  the  Boot-Diggers  country,  he  gives 
the  further  following  accounts  of  their  transactions : — 

“  In  the  course  of  their  journey  through  the  country  of  the  poor 
Boot-Diggers,  there  seems  to  have  been  an  emulation  between  them, 
which  could  inflict  the  greatest  outrages  upon  the  natives.  The 
trappers  still  considered  them  in  the  light  of  dangerous  foes ;  and  the 
Mexicans,  very  probably,  charged  them  with  the  sin  of  horse-stealing ; 
we  have  no  other  mode  of  accounting  for  the  infamous  barbarities,  of 
which,  according  to  their  own  story,  they  were  guilty — hunting  the 
poor  Indians  like  wild  beasts,  and  killing  them  without  mercy — 
chasing  their  unfortunate  victims  at  full  speed  ;  noosing  them  around 
the  neck  with  their  lassos,  and  then  dragging  them  to  death.” 

It  is  due  to  Captain  Bonneville,  that  the  world  should  know  that 
these  cruel  (not  “savage”)  atrocities  were  committed  by  his  men, 
when  they  were  on  a  Tour  to  explore  the  shores  of  the  Great  Salt 
Lake,  and  many  hundreds  of  miles  from  him,  and  beyond  his 
control ;  and  that  in  his  work,  both  the  Captain  and  the  writer  of 
the  book  have  expressed  in  a  proper  way,  their  abhorrence  of  such 
fiendish  transactions. 


287 


A  part  of  the  same  “  piebald  mixture  ”  of  trappers,  who  were 
encamped  in  the  Riccaree  country,  and  trapping  the  beavers  out  of 
their  streams,  when,  finding  that  the  Eiccarees  had  stolen  a  number 
of  their  horses  one  night,  in  the  morning  made  prisoners  of  two  of 
the  Eiccarees,  who  loitered  into  their  camp,  and  probably  without 
knowledge  of  the  offence  committed,  when  they  were  bound  hand 
and  foot  as  hostages,  until  every  one  of  the  horses  should  be  re¬ 
turned. 

The  mountaineers  declared,  that  unless  the  horses  were  relin¬ 
quished,  the  prisoners  should  be  burned  to  death.  To  give  force  to 
their  threat,  a  pyre  of  logs  and  faggots  was  heaped  up  and  kindled 
into  a  blaze.  The  Eiccarees  released  one  horse,  and  then  another; 
but  finding  that  nothing  but  the  relinquishment  of  all  their  spoils 
would  purchase  the  lives  of  their  captives,  they  abandoned  them  to 
their  fate,  moving  off  with  many  parting  words  and  bowlings,  when 
the  prisoners  were  dragged  to  the  blazing  pyre,  and  burnt  to  death 
in  sight  of  their  retreating  comrades. 

“  Such  are  the  savage  cruelties  that  white  men  learn  to  practice, 
who  mingle  in  savage  life ;  and  such  are  the  acts  that  lead  to  terrible 
recrimination  on  the  part  of  the  Indians.  Should  we  hear  of  any 
atrocities  committed  by  the  Eiccarees  upon  captive  white  men  ;  let 
this  signal  and  recent  provocation  be  borne  in  mind.  Individual 
cases  of  the  kind  dwell  in  the  recollections  of  whole  tribes — and  it  is 
a  point  of  honour  and  conscience  to  revenge  them  ”  * 

To  quote  the  author  further - “The  facts  disclosed  in  the 

present  work,  clearly  manifest  the  policy  of  establishing  military 
posts,  and  a  mounted  force  to  protect  our  Traders  in  their  journeys 
across  the  great  Western  wilds ;  and  of  pushing  the  outposts  into  the 
heart  of  the  singular  wilderness  we  have  laid  open,  so  as  to  maintain 
some  degree  of  sway  over  the  country,  and  to  put  an  end  to  the  kind 
of  ‘  black  mail,’  levied  on  all  occasions,  by  the  savage  ‘  chivalry  of 
the  mountains  ’  ”  ! 

The  appalling  cruelties  in  the  above  quotations  require  no 
comment ;  and  I  hope  the  author,  as  well  as  the  Captain,  who  have 
my  warmest  approbation  for  having  so  frankly^  revealed  them,  will 
pardon  me  for  having  quoted  them  in  this  place,  as  one  striking 

*  During  the  summer  of  this  transaction  I  was  on  the  Upper  Missouri  river, 
and  had  to  pass  the  Riccaree  village  in  my  bark  canoe,  with  only  two  men,  which 
the  reader  will  say  justly  accounts  for  the  advice  of  Mr  M'Kenzie,  to  pass  the 
Riccaree  village  in  the  night,  which  I  did,  as  I  have  before  described,  by  which 
means  it  is  possible  I  preserved  my  life,  as  they  had  just  killed  the  last  Fur  Trader 
in  their  village,  and  as  I  have  learned  since,  were  “  dancing  his  scalp  ”  when  I  came 
by  them. 


288 


proof  of  the  justice  that  may  he  reasonably  expected,  in  prospect ; 
and  that  may  fairly  be  laid  to  the  past  proceedings  of  these  great 
systems  of  trading  with,  and  civilising  the  savages ;  which  have  been 
carried  on  from  the  beginning  of  our  settlements  on  the  Atlantic 
coast,  to  the  present  day — making  first  acquaintance  with  them,  and 
first  impressions  of  the  glorious  effects  of  civilisation — and  of  the 
sum  total  of  which,  this  instance  is  but  a  mere  point ;  hut  with  the 
singular  merit  which  redounds  to  the  honour  of  Captain  Bonneville, 
that  he  has  frankly  told  the  whole  truth ;  which,  if  as  fully  revealed 
of  all  other  transactions  in  these  regions,  I  am  enabled  to  say,  would 
shake  every  breast  with  ague-chills  of  abhorrence  of  civilised 
barbarities.  From  the  above  facts,  as  well  as  from  others  enumer¬ 
ated  in  the  foregoing  epistles,  the  discerning  reader  will  easily 
see  how  prejudices  are  raised  in  the  minds  of  the  savage,  and  why 
so  many  murders  of  white  people  are  heard  of  on  the  Frontier, 
which  are  uniformly  attributed  to  the  wanton  cruelty  and  rapacity 
of  the  savage — which  we  denominate  “  Indian  murders,”  and  “  ruth¬ 
less  barbarities,”  before  we  can  condescend  to  go  to  the  poor  savage, 
and  ask  him  for  a  reason,  which  there  is  no  doubt  he  could  generally 
furnish  us. 

From  these,  and  hundreds  of  others  that  might  be  named,  and 
equally  barbarous,  it  can  easily  be  seen,  that  white  men  may  well 
feel  a  dread  at  every  step  they  take  in  Indian  realms,  after  atrocities 
like  these,  that  call  so  loudly  and  so  justly  for  revenge,  in  a  country 
where  there  are  no  laws  to  punish ;  but  where  the  cruel  savage 
takes  vengeance  in  his  own  way — and  white  men  fall,  in  the  Indian’s 
estimation,  not  as  murdered,  but  executed,  under  the  common  law  of 
their  land. 

Of  the  hundreds  and  thousands  of  such  murders,  as  they  are 
denominated  by  white  men,  who  are  the  only  ones  to  tell  of  them  in 
the  civilised  world ;  it  should  also  be  kept  in  mind  by  the  reader, 
who  passes  his  sentence  on  them,  that  they  are  all  committed  on 
Indian  ground — that  the  Indian  hunts  not,  nor  traps  anywhere  on 
white  man’s  soil,  nor  asks  him  for  his  lands — or  molests  the  sacred 
graves  where  they  have  deposited  the  bones  of  their  fathers,  their 
wives  and  their  little  children. 

I  have  said  that  the  principal  means  of  the  destruction  of  these 
people,  were  the  system  of  trade,  and  the  introduction  of  small-pox, 
the  infallible  plague  that  is  consequent,  sooner  or  later,  upon  the 
introduction  of  trade  and  whiskey-selling  to  every  tribe.  I  would 
venture  the  assertion,  from  books  that  I  have  searched,  and  from  other 
evidence,  that  of  the  numerous  tribes  which  have  already  disappeared*. 


289 


and  of  those  that  have  been  traded  with,  quite  to  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
each  one  has  had  this  exotic  disease  in  their  turn — and  in  a  few 
months  have  lost  one  half  or  more  of  their  numbers ;  and  that  from 
living  evidences,  and  distinct  traditions,  this  appalling  disease  has 
several  times,  before  our  days,  run  like  a  wave  through  the  Western 
tribes,  over  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  to  the  Pacific  Ocean — thinning 
the  ranks  of  the  poor  Indians  to  an  extent  which  no  knowledge,  save 
that  of  the  overlooking  eye  of  the  Almighty,  can  justly  comprehend.* 
I  have  travelled  faithfully  and  far,  and  have  closely  scanned,  with 
a  hope  of  fairly  pourtraying  the  condition  and  customs  of  these  un¬ 
fortunate  people ;  and  if  in  taking  leave  of  my  readers,  which  I  must 
soon  do,  they  should  censure  me  for  any  oversight,  or  any  indiscretion 
or  error,  I  will  take  to  myself  these  consoling  reflections,  that  they 
will  acquit  me  of  intention  to  render  more  or  less  than  justice  to  any 
one ;  and  also,  that  if  in  my  zeal  to  render  a  service  and  benefit  to 
the  Indian,  I  should  have  fallen  short  of  it,  I  will,  at  least,  be 
acquitted  of  having  done  him  an  injury.  And  in  endeavouring  to 
render  them  that  justice,  it  belongs  to  me  yet  to  say  that  the  intro¬ 
duction  of  the  fatal  causes  of  their  destruction  above-named,  has  been 
a  subject  of  close  investigation  with  me  during  my  travels ;  and  I 
have  watched  on  every  part  of  the  Frontier  their  destructive  in¬ 
fluences,  which  result  in  the  overthrow  of  the  savage  tribes,  which, 
one  succeeding  another,  are  continually  becoming  extinct  under  their 
baneful  influences.  And  before  I  would  expatiate  upon  any  system 
for  their  successful  improvement  and  preservation,  I  would  protrude 
my  opinion  to  the  world,  which  I  regret  to  do,  that  so  long  as  the 
past  and  present  system  of  trade  and  whiskey-selling  is  tolerated 
amongst  them,  there  is  little  hope  for  their  improvement,  nor  any 
chance  for  more  than  a  temporary  existence.  I  have  closely  studied 
the  Indian  character  in  its  native  state,  and  also  in  its  secondary 
form  along  our  Frontiers ;  civilised,  as  it  is  often  (but  incorrectly) 
called.  I  have  seen  it  in  every  phase,  and  although  there  are  many 
noble  instances  to  the  contrary,  and  with  many  of  whom  I  am  person- 

*  The  Rev.  Mr  Parker  in  his  Tour  across  the  Rocky  Mountains  says,  that 
amongst  the  Indians  below  the  Falls  of  the  Columbia  at  least  seven-eighths,  if  not 
nine-tenths,  as  Dr  M'Laughlin  believes,  have  been  swept  away  by  disease  between 
the  years  1829,  and  the  time  that  he  visited  that  place  in  1836.  “  So  many  and  so 

sudden  were  the  deaths  which  occurred,  that  the  shores  were  strewed  with  the 
unburied  dead,  whole  and  large  villages  were  depopulated,  and  some  entire  tribes 
have  disappeared.”  This  mortality  he  says  “extended  not  only  from  the  Cascades 
to  the  Pacific,  but  from  very  far  North  to  the  coast  of  California.”  These  facts, 
with  hundreds  of  others,  show  how  rapidly  the  Indian  population  is  destroyed,  long 
before  we  become  acquainted  with  them. 

VOL.  II. 


T 


290 


ally  acquainted ;  yet  the  greater  part  of  those  who  have  lingered 
along  the  Frontiers,  and  been  kicked  about  like  dogs,  by  white  men, 
and  beaten  into  a  sort  of  a  civilisation,  are  very  far  from  being  what  I 
would  be  glad  to  see  them,  and  proud  to  call  them,  civilised  by  the 
aids  and  examples  of  good  and  moral  people.  Of  the  Indians  in  their 
general  capacity  of  civilised,  along  our  extensive  Frontier,  and  those 
tribes  that  I  found  in  their  primitive  and  disabused  state,  I  have 
drawn  a  Table,  which  I  offer  as  an  estimate  of  their  comparative 
character,  which  I  trust  will  be  found  to  be  near  the  truth,  generally, 
though  like  all  general  rules  or  estimates,  with  its  exceptions.  (  Vide 
Appendix  C.) 

Such  are  the  results  to  which  the  present  system  of  civilisation 
brings  that  small  part  of  these  poor  unfortunate  people,  who  outlive 
the  first  calamities  of  their  country;  and  in  this  degraded  and  pitiable 
condition,  the  most  of  them  end  their  days  in  poverty  and  wretched¬ 
ness,  without  the  power  of  rising  above  it.  Standing  on  the  soil 
which  they  have  occupied  from  their  childhood,  and  inherited  from 
their  fathers ;  with  the  dread  of  “  pale  faces,”  and  the  deadly  pre¬ 
judices  that  have  been  reared  in  their  breasts  against  them,  for  the 
destructive  influences  which  they  have  introduced  into  their  country, 
which  have  thrown  the  greater  part  of  their  friends  and  connections 
into  the  grave,  and  are  now  promising  the  remainder  of  them  no 
better  prospect  than  the  dreary  one  of  living  a  few  years  longer,  and 
then  to  sink  into  the  ground  themselves ;  surrendering  their  lands 
and  their  fair  hunting-grounds  to  the  enjoyment  of  their  enemies, 
and  their  bones  to  be  dug  up  and  strewed  about  the  fields,  or  to  be 
labelled  in  our  Museums. 

For  the  Christian  and  philanthropist,  in  any  part  of  the  world, 
there  is  enough,  I  am  sure,  in  the  character,  condition,  and  history  of 
these  unfortunate  people,  to  engage  his  sympathies — for  the  Nation, 
there  is  an  unrequited  account  of  sin  and  injustice  that  sooner  or  later 
will  call  for  national  retribution — and  for  the  American  citizens,  who 
live,  everywhere  proud  of  their  growing  wealth  and  their  luxuries, 
over  the  bones  of  these  poor  fellows,  who  have  surrendered  their 
hunting-grounds  and  their  lives,  to  the  enjoyment  of  their  cruel  dis- 
possessors,  there  is  a  lingering  terror  yet,  I  fear,  for  the  reflecting 
minds,  whose  mortal  bodies  must  soon  take  their  humble  places  with 
their  red,  but  injured  brethren,  under  the  same  glebe;  to  appear  and 
stand,  at  last,  with  guilt’s  shivering  conviction,  amidst  the  myriad 
ranks  of  accusing  spirits,  that  are  to  rise  in  their  own  fields,  at  the 
final  day  of  resurrection  ! 


APPENDICES 


APPENDIX  A. 


EXTINCTION  OF  THE  MANDANS 

From  the  accounts  brought  to  New  York  in  the  fall  of  1838,  by  Messrs  M'Kenzie, 
Mitchell,  and  others,  from  the  Upper  Missouri,  and  with  whom  I  conversed  on  the 
subject,  it  seems  that  in  the  summer  of  that  year  the  small-pox  was  accidentally 
introduced  amongst  the  Mandans  by  the  Fur  Traders  ;  and  that  in  the  course  of 
two  months  they  all  perished  except  some  thirty  or  forty,  who  were  taken  as  slaves 
by  the  Ricearees  ;  an  enemy  living  two  hundred  miles  below  them,  and  who  moved 
up  and  took  possession  of  their  village  soon  after  their  calamity,  taking  up  their 
residence  in  it,  it  being  a  better  built  village  than  their  own  ;  and  from  the  lips  of 
one  of  the  Traders,  who  had  more  recently  arrived  from  there,  I  had  the  following 
account  of  the  remaining  few,  in  whose  destruction  was  the  final  termination  of  this 
interesting  and  once  numerous  tribe. 

The  Ricearees,  he  said,  had  taken  possession  of  the  village  after  the  disease 
had  subsided,  and  after  living  some  months  in  it,  were  attacked  by  a  large  party 
of  their  enemies,  the  Sioux,  and  whilst  fighting  desperately  in  resistance,  in  which 
the  Mandan  prisoners  had  taken  an  active  part,  the  latter  had  concerted  a  plan  for 
their  own  destruction,  which  was  effected  by  their  simultaneously  running  through 
the  piquets  on  to  the  prairie,  calling  out  to  the  Sioux  (both  men  and  women)  to  kill 
them,  “that  they  were  Riccaree  dogs,  that  their  friends  were  all  dead,  and  they 
did  not  wish  to  live,” — that  they  here  wielded  their  weapons  as  desperately  as  they 
could,  to  excite  the  fury  of  their  enemy,  and  that  they  were  thus  cut  to  pieces  and 
destroyed. 

The  accounts  given  by  two  or  three  white  men,  who  were  amongst  the  Mandans 
during  the  ravages  of  this  frightful  disease,  are  most  appalling,  and  actually  too 
heartrending  and  disgusting  to  be  recorded.  The  disease  was  introduced  into  the 
country  by  the  Fur  Company’s  steamer  from  St  Louis ;  which  had  two  of  their 
crew  sick  with  the  disease  when  it  approached  the  Upper  Missouri,  and  imprudently 
stopped  to  trade  at  the  Mandan  village,  which  was  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  where 
the  chiefs  and  others  were  allowed  to  come  on  board,  by  which  means  the  disease 
got  ashore. 

I  am  constrained  to  believe,  that  the  gentlemen  in  charge  of  the  steamer  did  not 
believe  it  to  be  the  small-pox  ;  for  if  they  had  known  it  to  be  such,  I  cannot  conceive 
of  such  imprudence,  as  regarded  their  own  interests  in  the  country,  as  well  as  the 
fate  of  these  poor  people,  by  allowing  their  boat  to  advance  into  the  country  under 
such  circumstances. 

It  seems  that  the  Mandans  were  surrounded  by  several  war-parties  of  their  more 
powerful  enemies  the  Sioux,  at  that  unlucky  time,  and  they  could  not  therefore 
disperse  upon  the  plains,  by  which  many  of  them  could  have  been  saved ;  and 
they  were  necessarily  enclosed  within  the  piquets  of  their  village,  where  the  disease 
in  a  few  days  became  so  very  malignant  that  death  ensued  in  a  few  hours  after  its 
attacks  ;  and  so  slight  were  their  hopes  when  they  were  attacked,  that  nearly  half 
of  them  destroyed  themselves  with  their  knives,  with  their  guns,  and  by  dashing 
their  brains  out  by  leaping  head-foremost  from  a  thirty-foot  ledge  of  rocks  in  front 
of  their  village.  The  first  symptom  of  the  disease  was  a  rapid  swelling  of  the  body, 
and  so  very  virulent  had  it  become,  that  very  many  died  in  two  or  three  hours  after 
their  attack,  and  that  in  many  cases  without  the  appearance  of  the  disease  upon 
the  skin.  Utter  dismay  seemed  to  possess  all  classes  and  all  ages,  and  they  gave 
themselves  up  in  despair,  as  entirely  lost.  There  was  but  one  continual  crying 
and  howling  and  praying  to  the  Great  Spirit  for  his  protection  during  the  nights 
and  days  :  and  there  being  but  few  living,  and  those  in  too  appalling  despair, 
nobody  thought  of  burying  the  dead,  whose  bodies,  whole  families  together,  were 

203 


294 


left  in  horrid  and  loathsome  piles  in  their  own  wigwams,  with  a  few  buffalo  robes, 
etc.,  thrown  over  them,  there  to  decay,  and  be  devoured  by  their  own  dogs.  That 
such  a  proportion  of  their  community  as  that  above-mentioned,  should  have  perished 
in  so  short  a  time,  seems  yet  to  the  reader,  an  unaccountable  thing ;  but  in  addition 
to  the  causes  just  mentioned,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  this  frightful  disease  is 
everywhere  far  more  fatal  amongst  the  natives  that  in  civilised  population,  which 
may  be  owing  to  some  extraordinary  constitutional  susceptibility ;  or,  I  think, 
more  probably,  to  the  exposed  lives  they  live,  leading  more  directly  to  fatal  con¬ 
sequences.  In  this,  as  in  most  of  their  diseases,  they  ignorantly  and  imprudently 
plunge  into  the  coldest  water,  whilst  in  the  highest  state  of  fever,  and  often  die 
before  they  have  the  power  to  get  out. 

Some  have  attributed  the  unexampled  fatality  of  this  disease  amongst  the  Indians 
to  the  fact  of  their  living  entirely  on  animal  food ;  but  so  important  a  subject  for 
investigation  I  must  leave  for  sounder  judgments  than  mine  to  decide.  They  are 
a  people  whose  constitutions  and  habits  of  life  enable  them  most  certainly  to  meet 
most  of  its  ills  with  less  dread,  and  with  decidedly  greater  success,  than  they  are 
met  in  civilised  communities ;  and  I  would  not  dare  to  decide  that  their  simple 
meat  diet  was  the  cause  of  their  fatal  exposure  to  one  frightful  disease,  when  I  am 
decidedly  of  opinion  that  it  has  been  the  cause  of  their  exemption  and  protection 
from  another,  almost  equally  destructive,  and,  like  the  former,  of  civilised  intro¬ 
duction. 

During  the  season  of  the  ravages  of  the  Asiatic  cholera  which  swept  over  the 
greater  part  of  the  western  country,  and  the  Indian  frontier,  I  was  a  traveller 
through  those  regions,  and  was  able  to  witness  its  effects  ;  and  I  learned  from  what 
I  saw,  as  well  as  from  what  I  have  heard  in  other  parts  since  that  time,  that  it 
travelled  to  and  over  the  frontiers  ;  carrying  dismay  and  death  amongst  the  tribes 
on  the  borders  in  many  cases,  so  far  as  they  had  adopted  the  civilised  modes  of  life, 
with  its  dissipations,  using  vegetable  food  and  salt ;  but  wherever  it  came  to  the 
tribes  living  exclusively  on  meat,  and  that  without  the  use  of  salt,  its  progress  was 
suddenly  stopped.  I  mention  this  as  a  subject  which  I  looked  upon  as  important  to 
science,  and  therefore  one  on  which  I  made  many  careful  inquiries  ;  and  so  far  as  I 
have  learned  along  that  part  of  the  frontier  over  which  I  have  since  passed,  I  have 
to  my  satisfaction  ascertained  that  such  became  the  utmost  limits  of  this  fatal 
disease  in  its  travel  to  the  West,  unless  where  it  might  have  followed  some  of 
the  routes  of  the  Fur  Traders,  who,  of  course,  have  introduced  the  modes  of 
civilised  life. 

From  the  Trader  who  was  present  at  the  destruction  of  the  Mandans  I  had 
many  most  wonderful  incidents  of  this  dreadful  scene,  but  I  dread  to  recite  them. 
Amongst  them,  however,  there  is  one  that  1  must  briefly  describe,  relative  to  the 
death  of  that  noble  gentleman  of  whom  I  have  already  said  so  much,  and  to  whom 
I  became  so  much  attached — Mah-to-toh-pa,  or  “the  Four  Bears.”  This  fine 
fellow  sat  in  his  wigwam  and  watched  every  one  of  his  family  die  about  him,  his 
wives  and  his  little  children,  after  he  had  recovered  from  the  disease  himself :  when 
he  walked  out,  around  the  village,  and  wept  over  the  final  destruction  of  his  tribe ;  his 
braves  and  warriors,  whose  sinewy  arms  alone  he  could  depend  on  for  a  continuance 
of  their  existence,  all  laid  low  ;  when  he  came  back  to  his  lodge,  where  he  covered 
his  whole  family  in  a  pile,  with  a  number  of  robes,  and  wrapping  another  around 
himself,  went  out  upon  a  hill  at  a  little  distance,  where  he  lay  several  days,  despite 
all  the  solicitations  of  the  Traders,  resolved  to  starve  himself  to  death.  He  remained 
there  till  the  sixth  day,  when  he  had  just  strength  enough  to  creep  back  to  the 
village,  when  he  entered  the  horrid  gloom  of  his  own  wigwam,  and  laying  his  body 
alongside  of  the  group  of  his  family,  drew  his  robe  over  him  and  died  on  the  ninth 
day  of  his  fatal  abstinence. 

So  have  perished  the  friendly  and  hospitable  Mandans,  from  the  best  accounts  I 
could  get ;  and  although  it  may  be  possible  that  some  few  individuals  may  yet  be 
remaining,  I  think  it  is  not  probable ;  and  one  thing  is  certain,  even  if  such  be  the 
case,  that,  as  a  nation,  the  Mandans  are  extinct,  having  no  longer  an  existence. 

There  is  yet  a  melancholy  part  of  the  tale  to  be  told,  relating  to  the  ravages  of 
this  frightful  disease  in  that  country  on  the  same  occasion,  as  it  spread  to  other 
contiguous  tribes,  to  the  Minatarees,  the  Knisteneaux,  the  Blackfeet,  theChayenr.es 
and  Crows  ;  amongst  whom  25,000  perished  in  the  course  of  four  or  five  months, 
which  most  appalling  facts  I  got  from  Major  Pilcher,  now  Superintendent  of  Indian 
affairs  at  St  Louis,  from  Mr  MTvenzie,  and  others. 

It  may  be  naturally  asked  here,  by  the  reader,  whether  the  Government  of  the 


295 


United  States  have  taken  any  measure  to  prevent  the  ravages  of  this  fatal  disease 
amongst  these  exposed  tribes  ;  to  which  I  answer,  that  repeated  efforts  have  been 
made,  and  so  far  generally,  as  the  tribes  have  ever  had  the  disease  (or,  at  all 
events,  within  the  recollections  of  those  who  are  now  living  in  the  tribes),  the 
Government  agents  have  succeeded  in  introducing  vaccination  as  a  protection  ;  but 
amongst  those  tribes  in  their  wild  state,  and  where  they  have  not  suffered  with  the 
disease,  very  little  success  has  been  met  with  in  the  attempt  to  protect  them,  on 
account  of  their  superstitions,  which  have  generally  resisted  all  attempts  to  intro¬ 
duce  vaccination.  Whilst  I  was  on  the  Upper  Missouri,  several  surgeons  were  sent 
into  the  country  with  the  Indian  agents,  where  I  several  times  saw  the  attempts 
made  without  success.  They  have  perfect  confidence  in  the  skill  of  their  own 
physicians,  until  the  disease  has  made  one  slaughter  in  their  tribe,  and  then,  having 
seen  white  men  amongst  them  protected  by  it,  they  are  disposed  to  receive  it, 
before  which  they  cannot  believe  that  so  minute  a  puncture  in  the  arm  is  going  to 
protect  them  from  so  fatal  a  disease ;  and  as  they  see  white  men  so  earnestly 
urging  it,  they  decide  that  it  must  be  some  new  mode  or  trick  of  pale  faces,  by 
which  they  are  to  gain  some  new  advantage  over  them,  and  they  stubbornly  and 
successfully  resist  it. 


THE  WELSH  COLONY, 

Which  I  barely  spoke  of  in  page  231,  of  Vol.  I.  which  sailed  under  the  direction  of 
Prince  Madoc,  or  Madawc,  from  North  Wales,  in  the  early  part  of  the  fourteenth 
century  in  ten  ships,  according  to  numerous  and  accredited  authors,  and  never 
returned  to  their  own  country,  have  been  supposed  to  have  landed  somewhere  on 
the  coast  of  North  or  South  America  ;  and  from  the  best  authorities  (which  I  will 
suppose  everybody  has  read,  rather  than  quote  them  at  this  time),  I  believe  it  has 
been  pretty  clearly  proved  that  they  landed  either  on  the  coast  of  Florida,  or  about 
the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  and  according  to  the  history  and  poetry  of  their 
country,  settled  somewhere  in  the  interior  of  North  America,  where  they  are  yet 
remaining,  intermixed  with  some  of  the  savage  tribes. 

In  my  Letter  just  referred  to,  I  barely  suggested,  that  the  Mandans,  whom  I 
found  with  so  many  peculiarities  in  looks  and  customs,  which  I  have  already 
described,  might  possibly  be  the  remains  of  this  lost  colony,  amalgamated  with  a 
tribe  or  part  of  a  tribe,  of  the  natives,  which  would  account  for  the  unusual 
appearances  of  this  tribe  of  Indians,  and  also  for  the  changed  character  and  customs 
of  the  Welsh  Colonists,  provided  these  be  the  remains  of  them. 

Since  those  notes  were  written,  as  will  have  been  seen  by  my  subsequent 
Letters,  and  particularly  in  page  10  of  this  Volume,  I  have  descended  the  Missouri 
River  from  the  Mandan  village  to  St  Louis,  a  distance  of  1800  miles,  and  have  taken 
pains  to  examine  its  shores  :  and  from  the  repeated  remains  of  the  ancient  locations 
of  the  Mandans,  which  I  met  with  on  the  banks  of  that  river,  I  am  fully  convinced 
that  I  have  traced  them  down  nearly  to  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  River ;  and  from 
exactly  similar  appearances,  which  I  recollect  to  have  seen  several  years  since  in 
several  places  in  the  interior  of  the  State  of  Ohio,  I  am  fully  convinced  that  they 
have  formerly  occupied  that  part  of  the  country,  and  have,  from  some  cause  or 
other,  been  put  in  motion,  and  continued  to  make  their  repeated  moves  until  they 
arrived  at  the  place  of  their  residence  at  the  time  of  their  extinction,  on  the  Upper 
Missouri. 

In  the  annexed  chart  of  the  Missouri  and  Ohio  rivers,  will  be  seen  laid  down  the 
different  positions  of  the  ancient  marks  of  their  towns  which  I  have  examined  ;  and 
also,  nearly  (though  not  exactly),  the  positions  of  the  very  numerous  civilised 
fortifications  which  are  now  remaining  on  the  Ohio  and  Muskingum  rivers,  in  the 
vicinity  of  which  I  believe  the  Mandans  once  lived. 

These  ancient  fortifications,  which  are  very  numerous  in  that  vicinity,  some  of 
which  enclose  a  great  many  acres,  and  being  built  on  the  banks  of  the  rivers,  with 
walls  in  some  places  twenty  or  thirty  feet  in  height,  with  covered  ways  to  the 
water,  evince  a  knowledge  of  the  science  of  fortifications  apparently  not  a  century 
behind  that  of  the  present  day,  were  evidently  never  built  by  any  nation  of 
savages  in  America,  and  present  to  us  incontestable  proof  of  the  former  existence 
of  a  people  very  far  advanced  in  the  arts  of  civilisation,  who  have,  from  some 
cause  or  other,  disappeared,  and  left  these  imperishable  proofs  of  their  former 
existence. 


296 


Now  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  the  ten  ships  of  Madoc,  or  a  part  of  them  at 
least,  entered  the  Mississippi  River  at  the  Balize,  and  made  their  way  up  the 
Mississippi,  or  that  they  landed  somewhere  on  the  Florida  coast,  and  that  their 
brave  and  persevering  colonists  made  their  way  through  the  interior,  to  a  position 
on  the  Ohio  River,  where  they  cultivated  their  fields,  and  established  in  one  of  the 
finest  countries  on  earth,  a  flourishing  colony ;  but  were  at  length  set  upon  by  the 
savages,  whom,  perhaps,  they  provoked  to  warfare,  being  trespassers  on  their 
hunting-grounds,  and  by  whom,  in  overpowering  hordes,  they  were  besieged,  until 
it  was  necessary  to  erect  these  fortifications  for  their  defence,  info  which  they  were 
at  last  driven  by  a  confederacy  of  tribes,  and  there  held  till  their  ammunition  and 
provisions  gave  out,  and  they  in  the  end  have  all  perished,  except  perhaps  that 
portion  of  them  who  might  have  formed  alliance  by  marriage  with  the  Indians, 
and  their  offspring,  who  would  have  been  half-breeds,  and  of  course  attached  to  the 
Indians’  side ;  whose  lives  have  been  spared  in  the  general  massacre ;  and  at 
length,  being  despised,  as  all  half-breeds  of  enemies  are,  have  gathered  themselves 
into  a  band,  and  severing  from  their  parent  tribe,  have  moved  off,  and  increased  in 
numbers  and  strength  as  they  have  advanced  up  the  Missouri  River  to  the  place 
where  they  have  been  known  for  many  years  past  by  the  name  of  the  Manila  us, 
a  corruption  or  abbreviation,  perhaps,  of  “  Madawgwys,”  the  name  applied  by  the 
Welsh  to  the  followers  of  Madawc. 

If  this  be  a  startling  theory  for  the  world,  they  will  be  the  more  sure  to  read  the 
following  brief  reasons  which  I  bring  in  support  of  my  opinion  ;  and  if  they  do  not 
support  me,  they  will  at  least  be  worth  knowing,  and  may,  at  the  same  time,  be 
the  means  of  eliciting  further  and  more  successful  inquiry. 

As  I  have  said,  in  page  10  of  this  Volume,  and  in  other  places,  the  marks  of  the 
Mandan  villages  are  known  by  the  excavations  of  two  feet  or  more  in  depth,  and 
thirty  or  forty  feet  in  diameter,  of  a  circular  form,  made  in  the  ground  for  the 
foundations  of  their  wigwams,  which  leave  a  decided  remain  for  centuries,  and  one 
that  is  easily  detected  the  moment  that  it  is  met  with.  After  leaving  the  Mandan 
village,  I  found  the  marks  of  their  former  residence  about  sixty  miles  below  where 
they  were  then  living,  and  from  which  they  removed  (from  their  own  account) 
about  sixty  or  eighty  years  since  ;  and  from  the  appearance  of  the  number  of  their 
lodges,  I  should  think,  that  at  that  recent  date  there  must  have  been  three  times 
the  number  that  were  living  when  I  was  amongst  them.  Near  the  mouth  of  the  Big 
Shienne  River,  two  hundred  miles  below  their  last  location,  I  found  still  more  ancient 
remains,  and  in  as  many  as  six  or  seven  other  places  between  that  and  the  mouth 
of  the  Ohio,  as  I  have  designated  on  the  chart,  and  each  one,  as  I  visited  them, 
appearing  more  and  more  ancient,  convincing  me  that  these  people,  wherever  they 
might  have  come  from,  have  gradually  made  their  moves  up  the  banks  of  the 
Missouri  to  the  place  where  I  visited  them. 

For  the  most  part  of  this  distance  they  have  been  in  the  heart  of  the  great 
Sioux  country,  and  being  looked  upon  by  the  Sioux  as  trespassers,  have  been 
continually  warred  upon  by  this  numerous  tribe,  who  have  endeavoured  to 
extinguish  them,  as  they  have  been  endeavouring  to  do  ever  since  our  first 
acquaintance  with  them ;  but  who,  being  always  fortified  by  a  strong  piquet,  or 
stockade,  have  successfully  withstood  the  assaults  of  their  enemies,  and  preserved 
the  remnant  of  their  tribe.  Through  this  sort  of  gauntlet  they  have  run,  in  passing 
through  the  countries  of  these  warlike  and  hostile  tribes. 

It  may  be  objected  to  this,  perhaps,  that  the  Riccarees  and  Minatarees  build 
their  wigwams  in  the  same  way :  but  this  proves  nothing,  for  the  Minatarees  are 
Crows,  from  the  north-west ;  and  by  their  own  showing,  fled  to  the  Mandans  for 
protection,  and  forming  their  villages  by  the  side  of  them,  built  their  wigwams  in 
the  same  manner. 

The  Riccarees  have  been  a  very  small  tribe,  far  inferior  to  the  Mandans  ;  and 
by  the  traditions  of  the  Mandans,  as  well  as  from  the  evidence  of  the  first  explorers, 
Lewis  and  Clarke,  and  others,  have  lived,  until  quite  lately  on  terms  of  intimacy 
with  the  Mandans,  whose  villages  they  have  successively  occupied  as  the  Mandans 
have  moved  and  vacated  them,  as  they  now  are  doing,  since  disease  has  swept  the 
whole  of  the  Mandans  away. 

Whether  my  derivation  of  the  word  Mandan  from  Madawgwys  be  correct  or  not, 
I  will  pass  it  over  to  the  world  at  present  merely  as  'presumptive  proof,  for  want  of 
better,  which,  perhaps,  this  inquiry  may  elicit ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  I  offer  the 
Welsh  word  Mandon  (the  woodroof,  a  species  of  madder  used  as  a  red  dye),  as  the 
name  that  might  possibly  have  been  applied  by  their  Welsh  neighbours  to  these 


297 


people,  on  account  of  their  very  ingenious  mode  of  giving  the  beautiful  red  and 
other  dyes  to  the  porcupine  quills  with  which  they  garnish  their  dresses. 

In  their  own  language  they  called  themselves  See-pohs-ka-nu-mah-ka-Jcee  (the 
people  of  the  pheasants),  which  was  probably  the  name  of  the  primitive  stock, 
before  they  were  mixed  with  any  other  people ;  and  to  have  got  such  a  name,  it  is 
natural  to  suppose  that  they  must  have  come  from  a  country  where  pheasants 
existed,  which  cannot  be  found  short  of  reaching  the  timbered  country  at  the  base 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  some  six  or  eight  hundred  miles  west  of  the  Mandans, 
or  the  forests  of  Indiana  and  Ohio,  some  hundreds  of  miles  to  the  south  and  east 
of  where  they  last  lived. 

The  above  facts,  together  with  the  other  one  which  they  repeatedly  related  to 
me,  and  which  I  have  before  alluded  to,  that  they  had  often  been  to  the  hill  of  the 
lied  Pipe  Stone,  and  that  they  once  lived  near  it,  carry  conclusive  evidence,  I 
think,  that  they  have  formerly  occupied  a  country  much  farther  to  the  south  ;  and 
that  they  have  repeatedly  changed  their  locations,  until  they  reached  the  spot  of 
their  last  residence,  where  they  have  met  with  their  final  misfortune.  And  as 
evidence  in  support  of  my  opinion  that  they  came  from  the  banks  of  the  Ohio,  and 
have  brought  with  them  some  of  the  customs  of  the  civilised  people  who  erected 
those  ancient  fortifications,  I  am  able  to  say,  that  the  numerous  specimens  of 
pottery  which  have  been  taken  from  the  graves  and  tumuli  about  those  ancient 
works  (many  of  which  may  be  seen  now,  in  the  Cincinnati  Museum,  and  some  of 
which,  my  own  donations,  and  which  have  so  much  surprised  the  inquiring  world), 
were  to  be  seen  in  great  numbers  in  the  use  of  the  Mandans ;  and  scarcely  a  day 
in  the  summer  when  the  visitor  to  their  village  would  not  see  the  women  at  work 
with  their  hands  and  fingers,  moulding  them  from  black  clay  into  vases,  cups, 
pitchers,  and  pots,  and  baking  them  in  their  little  kilns  in  the  sides  of  the  hill,  or 
under  the  bank  of  the  river. 

In  addition  to  this  art,  which  I  am  sure  belongs  to  no  other  tribe  on  the 
continent,  these  people  have  also,  as  a  secret  with  themselves,  the  extraordinary 
art  of  manufacturing  a  very  beautiful  and  lasting  kind  of  blue  glass  beads,  which 
they  wear  on  their  necks  in  great  quantities,  and  decidedly  value  above  all  others 
that  are  brought  amongst  them  by  the  Fur  Traders. 

This  secret  is  not  only  one  that  the  Traders  did  not  introduce  amongst  them, 
but  one  that  they  cannot  learn  from  them  ;  and  at  the  same  time,  beyond  a  doubt, 
an  art  that  has  been  introduced  amongst  them  by  some  civilised  people,  as  it  is  as 
yet  unknown  to  other  Indian  tribes  in  that  vicinity,  or  elsewhere.  Of  this  interest¬ 
ing  fact,  Lewis  and  Clarke  have  given  an  account  thirty-three  }rears  ago,  at  a  time 
when  no  Traders,  or  other  white  people,  had  been  amongst  the  Mandans,  to  have 
taught  them  so  curious  an  art. 

The  Mandan  canoes,  which  are  altogether  different  from  those  of  all  other  tribes, 
are  exactly  the  Welsh  coracle,  made  of  raw  hides,  the  skins  of  buffaloes,  stretched 
underneath  a  frame  made  of  willow  or  other  boughs,  and  shaped  nearly  round,  like 
a  tub  ;  which  the  woman  carries  on  her  head  from  her  wigwam  to  the  water’s  edge, 
and  having  stepped  into  it,  stands  in  front,  and  propels  it  by  dipping  her  paddle 
forward,  and  drawing  it  to  her,  instead  of  paddling  by  the  side.  In  referring  to 
Fig.  240,  letter  c,  page  158,  the  reader  will  see  several  drawings  of  these  seemingly 
awkward  crafts,  which,  nevertheless,  the  Mandan  women  will  pull  through  the 
water  at  a  rapid  rate. 

How  far  these  extraordinary  facts  may  go  in  the  estimation  of  the  reader,  with 
numerous  others  which  I  have  mentioned  in  Volume  I.,  whilst  speaking  of  the 
Mandans,  of  their  various  complexions,  colours  of  hair,  and  blue  and  grey  eyes, 
towards  establishing  my  opinion  as  a  sound  theory,  I  cannot  say  ;  but  this  much  I 
can  safely  aver,  that  at  the  moment  that  I  first  saw  these  people,  I  was  so  struck 
with  the  peculiarity  of  their  appearance,  that  I  was  under  the  instant  conviction 
that  they  were  an  amalgam  of  a  native  with  some  civilised  race ;  and  from  what 
I  have  seen  of  them,  and  of  the  remains  on  the  Missouri  and  Ohio  rivers,  I  feel 
fully  convinced  that  these  people  have  emigrated  from  the  latter  stream  ;  and  that 
they  have,  in  the  manner  that  I  have  already  stated,  with  many  of  their  customs, 
been  preserved  from  the  almost  total  destruction  of  the  bold  colonists  of  Madawc, 
who,  I  believe,  settled  upon  and  occupied  for  a  century  or  so,  the  rich  and  fertile 
banks  of  the  Ohio.  In  adducing  the  proof  for  the  support  of  this  theory,  if  I  have 
failed  to  complete  it,  I  have  the  satisfaction  that  I  have  not  taken  up  much  of  the 
reader’s  time,  and  I  can  therefore  claim  his  attention  a  few  moments  longer,  whilst 
I  refer  him  to  a  brief  vocabulary  of  the  Mandan  language  in  the  following  pages, 

T* 


298 


where  he  may  compare  it  with  that  of  the  Welsh  ;  and  better,  perhaps,  than  I  can, 
decide  whether  there  is  any  affinity  existing  between  the  two ;  and  if  he  finds  it, 
it  will  bring  me  a  friendly  aid  in  support  of  the  position  I  have  taken. 

From  the  comparison  that  I  have  been  able  to  make,  I  think  I  am  authorised 
to  say,  that  in  the  following  list  of  words,  which  form  a  part  of  that  vocabulary, 
there  is  a  striking  similarity,  and  quite  sufficient  to  excite  surprise  in  the  minds  of 
the  attentive  reader,  if  it  could  be  proved  that  those  resemblances  were  but  the 
results  of  accident  between  two  foreign  and  distinct  idioms. 


English. 

Mandan. 

Welsh. 

Pronounced. 

I  ...  . 

•  Me. 

.  Mi  . 

.  Me. 

irou  .... 

.  Me  . 

.  Chwi  . 

.  Chwe. 

He  ...  . 

.  E  . 

.  A  . 

.  A. 

She  .... 

.  Ea  . 

.  E  . 

.  A. 

It  ... 

.  Ount 

.  Hwynt  . 

.  Hooynt. 

We  . 

.  Noo 

.  Ni  . 

.  Ne. 

They  .... 

.  Eonah  . 

/  Hwna,  mas.  .  . 

'  (Hona,  fcm.  .  . 

.  Hoona. 

.  Ilona. 

Those  ones 

•  ,  ,  , 

.  YrhaiHyna. 

No,  or,  there  is  not  . 

.  Megosh  . 

.  Nagoes  .  .  . 

fNage. 

.  Nagosh. 

No  ... 

•  ,  ,  , 

A  Nag. 

VNa. 

Head  .  .  . 

.  Pan 

.  Pen 

.  Pan. 

The  Great  Spirit 

.  Maho  peneta  . 

/  Mawr  penaethir  *  . 

'  \  Ysprid  mawr  t 

.  Maoor  panaether. 
.  Uspryd  maoor. 

*  To  act  as  a  great  chief— head  or  principal— sovereign  or  supreme, 
t  The  Great  Spirit, 


299 


PQ 

X 

i— i 

fi 

X 

H 

Ph 

Ph 

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390 


TUSKARORA. 

Ee  wak  du  wax 

Was  na  ra  hull? 

Grons  a  runk  na  rahouk 
Tsotkathoo 

Ka  jee 

Yoo  nau  ri  liun 

Aut  hooh 

Ee  wats 

Di  wats  a 

Akwiah 

Hohats 

Joowaroowa 

Awgway 

Jonockuli 

Onliatau 

Tyanootsruhuli 

Otskiyatsra 

On  ok  qua 

Oristreh 

Aw  raw 

Yonats  ronarlioost  pah 

Kanah 

Yununay  ualiquaw 

Onassaliunwa 

Kau  nuh  wuh 

Yetyatshoyuh 

Kunjookwlicr 

Otahra 

Orunjha 

Orusay 

Ookaray 

Oojyasa 

Oosharumva 

Ookalisa 

Ookahuay 

Ohahna 

Oosookway 

Oosa 

Au  way  rail 

Ooliuwa 

Kinah 

SIOUX. 

Ma  koo  je 

Won  ne  too  ka  ? 

Won  ne  tooka  slice  ne 

Wi  a  ka 

Ta  ha  na  dah  pe 

Mush  ta 

Sinnee 

Honslta 

Pe  tah  clia 

Wa  me  day  wah  kce 

Pe  tay 

Opon 

Teh  clia 

Chapa 

Slion  ka  wakon 

Shee  na 

Hong  pa 

O  ken  dee 

Honska 

Eta  zee  pah 

O  ju  ah 

Wonhee 

Woh  ha  chon  ka 

Wow  oo  ko  za 

Wah  kee  on 

Wee  on 

We  noh  cha 

Chin  cha 

Wee  chin  cha 

Okee  chin  cha 

Pah 

Ees  ta 

Hoo 

Ustah 

Pah  soo 

Poo  tay 

Ee  tay 

Noh  ghee 

Non  pay 

See' 

Pay  key 

Wahta 

Wah  ta  pah 

RICCAREE. 

Na  too  te  rate 

Kah  ka  nee  now  ? 

nay  nah  ho  too  ayrick 
Shee  sha 

Tow  war  ist 

Teep  so 

Tac  chess 

N  ee  hootch 

Nix  war  too 

Wa  tash 

Wah 

A  noo  nach 

Chee  tooghs 

Pan  hi  e 

11a  wah  rooh  te 

Sa  hooche 

Hooche 

Kraitch 

Kah  hooche 

Nache 

Nish  kratch 

Neeclie 

Na  se  wa  roo 

Acano 

Sa  pat 

Tah  ban 

Pe  ra 

Soo  nah tch 

Wee  nalitch 

Pahgli 

Arrai 

Ahgha 

Chee  reo  coo 

Tickokite 

Telio  nano 

Pa  rick 

Ahgh 

Pa  hi 

Lah  kee  boon 

Sa  hon  nee 

BLACKFOOT. 

Estse  no  stnm 

Clio  lietta  ke  tesistico  ? 
Nemah  tesistico 
Essummissa 

Pohks  a  pote 

Ea  cristocliis 

Stuya 

Innuya 

Sah  kee 

Fehta 

Eneuh 

Ponokah 

Ouacasee 

Kekstakee 

Ponokah  meta 

Aihahwa 

Itseekist 

Assolcas 

Alitsaiks 

N  etsinnam 

Ohpsis 

Sapa  pistats 

Moeese 

Ahkeea 

Netolikeaman 

Pohka 

Ahkeoquoin 

Sah  komapee 

Otokan 

Otchist 

Alicatches 

Owopspec 

Olicrisis 

Mah  oi 

Oestocris 

Ohtokiss 

Ohliitchis 

Ahocatchis 

Otokan 

Alikeoselits 

Nay  a  tolita 

i 

Me  au  gana  bush 

E  da  e  teaehe? 

Wah  ee  wah  ta  hish 

Etta  hant  tah 

Roo-koo  tah 

Dsa  shosh 

Shinee  hush 

Hash  kah 

Sonnah  ka 

Mah  sisk 

Ptemday 

Omepah 

Mah  man  a  coo 

Warrahpa 

Pahhee 

Ompah  meneda 

Mah  he  toll 

Hoompah 

Ema  shotah 

Hoh  shee 

Warah  e  noo  pah 
Eehlcticka 

Mahha 

Wah  kee 

Monna  etorook  shoka 

Ote 

Meha 

Moorse 

Sookhomaha 

Sook  meha 

Sook  nuniolik 

Pan 

Arda 

Doka 

Estume 

Pahoo 

Ea 

Estah 

Nakoha 

Onka 

On  ka  hah 

Shee 

Pah  lice 

Menanka 

Passah  ah 

ENGLISH. 

I  am  side 

Are  you  tired  ? 

I  am  not  tired 

Look  there 

Come  here 

Hot 

Cold 

Long 

Short 

War  eagle 

Buffalo 

Deer 

Beaver 

Porcupine 

Horse 

Rohe 

Mocassins 

Shirt 

Leggings 

Bow 

Quiver 

Arrow 

Shield 

Lance 

Wigwam 

Woman 

Wife 

Child 

Girl 

Boy 

Head 

Arms 

Legs 

Eyes 

Nose 

Mouth 

Face 

Ears 

Hand 

Fingers 

Foot 

Hair 

Canoe 

River 

301 


TUSKARORA. 

Okawetsreli 

Runjiuh 

Youfc  kojun  ya 

Ah  ah 

Wis  ky 

Yet  jy  arlioot  hah 
Jarhooh 

All  naw 

Yusylioory 

Kary 

Auk  hoor 

Akatsah 

Onahray  na  yun  kwah 

N  e  yunk  wah 

Owaryakuh 

Jotakry  yukuh 

Ojirulc 

Oonowak 

Tskwariuuh 

Jir 

Yego  ira  null 

Kaskwary 

Yoneks 

Yunt  kunis  ah  thah 

Tyowits  nah  na 

Unji 

Nekty 

Au  suh 

Hun  tak 

Wish 

Ooyalc 

Jarnak 

Nakruh 

Ni  ruh 

Wutsuh 

Unjits  kahar 

Nekty  tskahar 

Au  su  tskahar 

Untak  tskahar 

SIOUX. 

g  * 

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RICCAREE. 

Natoh-catogh 

Pa  hate 

Te  son  nan 

Laps 

Lapscon 

Tuan  kee 

Sa  rish  ka  tar  ree 

Te  wa  wa 

Nanto  to  wiska 

Nanto  co  nahose 
Tosoonock 

San  ish  pa 

Tah  te  ra  ka  rohk 

Toll  n  hah  tah  ka 

To  kah  ka 

Koo  nooghlc 

Aunoo  notche 

Stcericli 

Hahtch 

Too  ne  roose 

Nay  shon  tee  rehoo 

Soolit  sabat 

Te  ki  eeht 

Ki  eeht  te  waroolit 
Warooht  ta  kon 

Asco 

Pit  co 

Tow  wit 

Tehee  tisli 

Tehee  hoo 

Tcha  pis 

To  tcha  pis 

To  tcha  pis  won 

Nah  e  ne  won 

Nah  en 

Ko  tehee  te  won 

Pit  co  nah  en 

Tow  wit  nah  en 

Tehee  tish  nail  i  n 

BLACICFOOT. 

Mumtnea 

Alisain 

Ahsainahkeo 

Nail  lieeoh  kee 
Ahquayneman 

Pistacan 

Nahma 

Oliks  kos  moi  nerna 

Oyeet 

Neeta.sta 

Neetashpeo 

Mahto  mahxim 

Otolcan 

Otokan  epascat 

Soopascat 

Eneuh  quisix  sinnuum 
Mastoa 

Keahyu 

Saw  kee  owa  kasee 

Ah  eene 

Ahpace 

A  meeteh 

Mahtseo 

Aheeooa  nin  nah 

Kee  po  tah  kee 

Steea 

Nahto  steea 

Nahto  yeweis 

How 

Jeh 

Nah  tolik 

No  oks  kum 

Ne  sooyim 

Ne  see  tsee 

Nah  oo 

E  kitch  ekum 

Nah  ne  suyirn 

Paex  o 

Kay  pee 

Kay  pee  nay  tcheo  kopo 
chee 

Kay  peo  nah  kopochee 

Kay  pee  nay  ohk  kopochee 
Kay  pee  nay  say  kopochee 

MANDAN. 

Manuk  pah  sho 

Poll 

Wah  sah 

Wah  ka  pooska 

Men  e  pah  da 

E  hudlca 

Mannah  sha 

Eroopali 

Numohk  p’tahush 

E  roosli  toosh 

Wah  push  e  dah  liush 

Wah  k'heo  hush 

Ea  soolc  me  hom  mehan 
Pon  dope  kliee 

Pon  dope  khee  nah  pisli 
Keeruck  sah  nah  pish 

Woka  da 

Ka  ka 

Mahto 

Ko  ka 

Mounoh  he  ka 

Harratta 

Mones  waroota 

Numohk  liarica 

Numohk  k’shese  k’ticli 
Rokah  kah  ksee  ha 
Waroday 

Kaherookah  Waraday 
Kaherookah  kahar 

Mali  han  nah 

Nompah 

Namaiy 

Tohpa 

Kakhoo 

Ivemah 

Koo  pah 

Ta  tuck  a 

Mali  pa 

Perug 

Auga  mahannah 

Auga  nompah 

Auga  namary 

Auga  tohpa 

C 

s 

Paddle 

Fish 

Vermilion 

Painter 

Whiskey 

Pipe 

Tobacco 

Gun 

A  man  runs 

He  eats 

I  think 

I  am  old 

She  is  young 

Scalp 

Scalp  dance 

Wa  r  dance 

White  buffalo 

H.aven 

Pear 

Antelope 

Spirits,  or  Ghosts 

Wolf 

Dog 

A  brave 

A  great  chief 

Old  woman 

Fire 

Council  fire 

Council  house 

Good-bye 

One 

Two 

Three 

Four 

Five 

Six 

Seven 

Eight 

Nine 

Ten 

Eleven 

Twelve 

Thirteen 

Fourteen 

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303 


APPENDIX  C. 

CHARACTER  (Page  2S0). 


Original. 

Secondary. 

Handsome 

Ugly 

Mild 

Austere 

Modest 

Diffident 

Virtuous 

Libidinous 

Temperate 

Dissipated 

Free 

Enslaved 

Active 

Crippled 

Affable 

Reserved 

Social 

Taciturn 

Hospitable 

Hospitable 

Charitable 

Charitable 

Religious 

Religious 

Worshipful 

Worshipful 

Credulous 

Suspicious 

Superstitious 

Superstitious 

Bold 

Timid 

Straight 

Crooked 

Graceful 

Graceless 

Cleanly- 

Filthy 

Brave 

Brave 

Revengeful 

Revengeful 

Jealous 

Jealous 

Cruel 

Cruel 

Original. 

Secondary. 

Warlike 

Peaceable 

Proud 

Humble 

Honest 

Honest 

Honourable 

Honourable 

Ignorant 

Conceited 

Vain 

Humble 

Eloquent 

Eloquent 

Independent 

Dependant 

Grateful 

Grateful 

Happy 

Miserable 

Healthy 

Sickly 

Long-lived 

Short-lived 

Red 

Pale- red 

Sober 

Drunken 

Wild 

Wild 

Increasing 

Decreasing 

Faithful 

Faithful 

Stout-hearted 

Broken-hearted 

Indolent 

Indolent 

Full-blood 

Mixed-blood 

Living 

Dying 

Rich 

Poor 

Landholders 

Beggars 

FINIS 


PRINTED  BY 
OLIVER  AND  BOYD 
EDINBURGH 


-r> 


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